


Change

by Qtrlbsceci



Category: RWBY
Genre: Black trailer, Cant wait till V5, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, War, White Fang, no idea what im doing, post volume 4, so this happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2018-09-27 18:08:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 39,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10037660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qtrlbsceci/pseuds/Qtrlbsceci
Summary: Centers on Blake Belladonna. What happens after her decision to take back the White Fang? What will she do when she faces Adam again? Yang?AKA *slapping sense into this stubborn, adorable kitty cat*AKA Because bumbleby is life.





	1. Running, Again

**Author's Note:**

> Volume 5 is going to be epic. This will not but hey, maybe someone will enjoy it.

Running.  _Is that all I know how to do so well?_ Blake thought bitterly as she jumped from tree to tree in the dense forest. 

It was dark, judging from the cold stale night and the brilliance from the shattered moon from above, she guessed it was around three past midnight. Mistral got the coldest at these times. Blake paused as she jumped onto another thick tree branch, balancing herself. She could see the outskirts of another town, a big one.  _Have to go around_ , she thought.  _They might be trying to lead me there, a possible ambush._

She could hear rough footsteps approaching from behind, newbies, she though. _They aren’t being stealthy, probably wanting recognition for catching a traitor._ They might have sent them on purpose though. Blake paused in thought and decided, _around._ _I’ll lose them and make them think I ran back to the deep part of the forest, back to the pub where they spotted me._

Blake made a sharp left, being as loud as possible and making as many obvious trails as she could _. If they’re newbies they’ll fall for it_ , she guessed as she jumped onto another tree. She then focused on her semblance and had her copy drop down to the ground as soon as the White Fang members were in sight. 

“There she is!” a deer faunus shouted, so loud that a few birds scurried off. “Well, that answers my question,” she muttered under her breath. Definitely newbies. She watched them march off after her clone that disappeared between a few trees. She stayed crouched down on her spot between the branches, the leaves providing good cover _. I’ll wait for a few minutes, make sure they fell for it._ As time passed on she started to slowly relax her stance, tension leaving her muscles. Letting out an exhausting breath she finally sat down and took a breather. Realizing that it wasn’t Adam calmed her down. 

As the seconds ticked by she dozed off staring at the moon, the same moon that glowed during the death of so many. With that her mind drifted to past few months, after the fall of Beacon. She remembered the sting in her lower abdomen as she jumped from roof top to roof top. Thinking back now, she chastised her past self for being foolish enough to return to the ruins of Beacon, weak and injured. But she had to, she was powerless without her weapon. The same weapon she forged with her father’s help.

Her father. Ghira Belladonna. Just his name stirs up memories from that night. Regret courses through Blake, she body shudders at the words she yelled that day. What would have happened if I had listened? If I had stayed and left the White Fang? She thought. She’d be a different person, she even used to smile more back then, she’d would have lived a pleasant life in Menagerie. 

_But I would have never met them_ , she thought. 

Ruby, with her carefree and optimistic way of seeing the world. She reminded her of herself when she was younger, but smiled a lot less and didn’t speak as much. 

Weiss, at first she was wary of her, being a Schnee and all. She was stiff and condescending at first, but she warmed up to the team and stopped being Weiss-cold. 

She froze. 

The heartwarming smile that was forming quickly turned to a firm line. 

Yang. 

Yang was probably the reason she opened herself up more. The reason she finally got rest after her obsession with the White Fang. The reason she went to the dance. The reason she’s probably alive. And the reason she ran away. She felt her right arm weigh 20 more pounds, underneath her white coat lies a golden bracelet. When she retrieved her weapon, she saw it. She shuddered as the event replayed again and again inside her mind, thankful that her hand had long since disintegrated due to Adam’s semblance. 

Adam.


	2. The Dark Past Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake recalls her days in the WF, and the day she started to fear Adam Taurus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is pretty much a flashback chapter. People tend to forget that Blake stayed with the WF for years. She saw first hand their violence but stayed that long. What did she do? If Adam Taurus was a high ranking member, was Blake? Why didn't she wear a mask?

Adam.

Blake honestly didn’t know what he once was to her anymore. A friend? Mentor? Partner? She knew that he’s always looked at her differently, as the years passed. She never once acknowledged it. As time passed, and the WF grew more and more violent, so did Adams attitude towards her. It was a slow build up, small things that seemed out of character, but the day when she realized what the WF had become is when he truly made it known how much he’d changed with them. And how far deep in the darkness she had also been.

Flashback—

Blake had been a high-ranking officer for just about a month. As an officer, she was assigned a certain field she’d have to be overlooking. Adam’s was to personally oversee the Schnee dust transactions to intercept them, Blake’s was to gather information and find out where they were through harsh interrogations. This was the reason she stayed longer that she should have in the WF, even after realizing what horrors they were committing. She was no saint, she fell down the wrong path too. She hurt, _killed_ people without thinking much about it. If she could pull herself out of that soul sucking place, then maybe Adam could too.

She remembered that day crystal clear, the day she snapped out of that dark void that clouded her mind. The cat faunus stopped mid interrogation, the prisoner letting out a breath of relief now that the knife stopped inches from his face.  Blake had frozen upon hearing the man’s frantic question. _Why are you doing this,_ he had pleaded, soon after confessing that he didn’t know about any new scheduled shipments of dust. “What the hell am I doing?” she whispered to herself in horrified realization. That was the day. That was the day she realized what the WF was turning into. What _she_ had turned into.

Adam found out of her refusal to interrogate. He was dismayed at her change of heart and sought her out.

They fought each other out of anger for the first time that day. He threw the first swing. The feline faunus couldn’t believe it at first. Just how badly did the WF turn them into? Dread coursed through Blake. _What if the WF didn’t do this to him,_ she thought. What if deep down this was the real Adam, but she was just too blind to see it? _No_ , she told herself. _I don’t believe that, I don’t believe that the person who cared for me those years ago, is this stranger standing before me. Something must have happened to him, to both of us. Someone or something made us change._ The desperate faunus couldn’t accept that the caring red head she once knew was no longer there. So, when he made the first move, she hesitated.

Blake Belladonna lost that fight. But even with her inner turmoil, she didn’t go down easy.

Seconds seemed like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. She didn’t know how long their fight must have taken, but it felt like eternity. Every shot, every swing hurt her more and more as time passed on. She was fighting the closest thing to her ever since she ran from home, how could it not affect her? This was no training practice, this was a conversation between two friends and their weapons: Gambol Shroud pleading to the other that _this_ , whatever they were doing in this organization, is wrong and must be stopped. Wilt and Blush flaring red with anger, _this is what we’ve always wanted, change, and you want to give it up for a human who works for those who look down on us?_ **_Whose side are you on?!_ ** The red sword seemed to shout, sparks flying as it collided with Blake’s katana, both faunus fighting for the upper hand.  

Time ticked by, the world around them carrying on with its daily routine. Oblivious to the stench of dread, anger, fear and pain that swirled around the clearing where the duo continued with their opposition. Sound of metal against metal filled the otherwise silent night. When the pair launched their last strongest attack towards each other, both their auras diffused. She didn’t pause to strike him down. She knew what he was capable of, she mustn’t give him the time to strike first. Her sheath was yards away, knocked from her hands by an earlier attack, Adam’s sword shy from each other by a few inches lost from the same scuffle.

Holding her katana in its gun mode she raised it, hoping to only cause a non-life-threatening injury. She knew Adam was a better wielder even with only a sheath, without her cleaver he had the upper hand. So, she opted for keeping distance, but he was always faster with his hands. Hell, he could strike with his weapon and sheath it in just a blink of an eye. As he raised his weapon and aimed, faster than she anticipated, he fired.

Adam might be fast with his hands, but Blake was the fastest with her body. And feet. Her feline heritage acted on instinct, she shuffled her feet, bending her body backwards to try and evade the bullet, she landed from her backwards flip in a crouch stumbling a bit at the sudden burning sensation on her left arm. She dodged the bullet, but just barely. Crimson liquid dripped down from the graze, it wasn’t bad, just a surface wound. As she stood up from her position on the ground she felt how the fight has taken its toll on her.

This exchange happened in just seconds, from the moment their auras diffused to Blake straightening up from her crouch. And as she did so, she aimed her gun simultaneously firing soon after and . . . nothing happened. She was out of ammo. _Crap,_ _I was careless, I just gave him an opening._ She thought regrettably. She was going to lose. Just as Adam raised his sheath once again, he said “I don’t understand what’s gotten into you, but I have a responsibly to those who refuse to follow orders. Be grateful that I won’t report this to Sienna Kahn, you know he despises failure.” He was stepping closer as he spoke, diminishing the probability of Blake evading the next shot. Then he stumbled, his fatigue finally breaking through. Blake took the window of opportunity, using Adam’s closing distance to her advantage, and stepped forward. She swung her arm to try and knock him out with the butt of her pistol, her aim was off. This battle had taken a stronger toll than what she thought because instead of hitting his temple, her weapon connected to the right side of his jaw. The force knocking off his mask, and jerked his face sideways.

Slowly, Adam turned back to face her, showing his eyes for the first time in years. Before Blake could attempt another hit, she hesitated. At this moment, she had the upper hand, mostly since Adam had returned from a heist mission before looking for her. But, as she stared at those dull red eyes, she didn’t see him, she saw the boy that protected her from the abusing officer that pulled at her ears disgusted by them. She saw that boy she trusted with her life. That hesitation caused her defeat. Adam took advantage of her state; he crouched low, and swept Blake’s feet from under her. The feline fell hard on her back, getting her breath knocked out of her. Adam turned to face the cat fanus, lowering himself to straddle her. His knees on either side of her hips. Blake struggled against him, bucking her hips in an upward motion and forcefully pushing his shoulders with her hands to try and push him off. The red head grasped her wrists tightly, fumbling to keep them above her head with one hand. She kept trying to knock him off but it was useless, he now had the advantage.

“You brought this on yourself. If you refuse to interrogate him, then you’ll have to take his place,” he grunted as he struggled to keep Blake in place. He then grabbed her forehead with his free hand and slammed her head toward the ground. The last thing she saw before darkness enveloped her, were those captivating red eyes that once made her feel safe. But now bring her fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a part 2 of this flashback. This is pretty much all going through Blake's head during chapter one. Having fun with this, never written anything before. I love literature but I'm not very strategic with things like war or hughe hidden plot lines, so any input will be greatly appreciated. I mean if someone were to ask me to write a quick short story mine would go something like: "Once upon a time a protagonist set out into the world. An antagonist attempted to thwart him. There was rising action! Conflict! Drama! And then, through heroic action, the conflict was resolved. The end."  
> Also I have zero idea on what I'm doing with the action parts. But well see how this will play out.


	3. The Dark Past Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember the black trailer?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to cut it. This will cause the next chapter to be waaaaay shorter. But on the bright side I'll just release it today. It continues but I think its a good braking point for a chapter.

When Blake woke up, it was at the one place she never thought she would be in the receiving end.

The interrogation room.

She vowed never to set foot in this place again, refusing to help the White Fang interrogate people. They might not be innocent, but they still didn’t deserve this treatment. Now, there she was, in their shoes. _Karma’s a real bitch_ , Blake thought. The faunus raised her head and looked around, the back of her head throbbed from the impact Adam gave her. Wincing, she looked up, her arms were raised above her head, chained to the ceiling, half hanging half standing. The chains wrapped around uncomfortably tight, starting from her biceps and coiling around up to her wrists. She didn’t know how long she’d been out, but judging from the ache on her arms and a few dried drips of blood from her wrists due to the strain of the chains, she could guess it’s been a while.

A hand appeared in her line of vision and gripped the feline’s jaw tightly, coercing a pained gasp from the faunus. Her vision blurred for a second from the sudden movement, her head injury throbbing. When her vision focused red eyes stared back at her, Adams cold gaze earning a defiant glare from Blake.

“You do realize that I must now set you as an example for everyone else,” he stated in a low voice. His hair was tousled from their earlier fight, and torn clothes with bloody gashes were still visible. He didn’t bother to change or get cleaned up, he’s probably been waiting for Blake to wake up. She didn’t respond, just stared back in stubbornness.

“Why Blake? Why do this to yourself? Do you no longer support our cause?” He continued. As he kept talking his voice grew louder and his grip on her jaw tightened, but the feline refused to show him weakness.

“What cause?” Blake asked incredulously, no longer keeping quiet. “This is no longer an organization to fight for our rights, can’t you see that?! Sienna is proving them right, Adam.” She tried to reason. “We’re acting like children with a temper tantrum, if someone doesn’t see our way we fight them until they do. We are becoming what they have been accusing us of, terrorists!”

Blake took a deep breath, she was starting to raise her voice too, she was the calm and level headed of the duo. When she spoke again her voice was lower, “this is exactly what my father was talking about years back, the White Fang is changing, yes. But its changing for the worst.” She looked into his eyes pleadingly, trying to get him to see what’s in from of him. His face was still free from his usual mask.

“If I recall, I heard no objections when you ‘interrogated’ that Schnee council member for information,” he deadpanned. Blake visibly winced.

“I’m not proud of what I’ve done, I’m not any better but I’ve realized that, Adam. I want to help change the world for the better. Equality, peace,” Adam let go of Blake’s jaw and narrowed his eyes. “You wanted that once too, remember?” Blake stared into those eyes, looking through those hard lines marring his face, hoping to see a spark of realization. Understanding. Something! Anything that proves he’s still the Adam she once knew.

She found nothing in that stony expression, aside from disappointment. Her heart dropped to her near dangling feet. Is this where they drift apart?

 _No_ , she thought. They went separate ways long ago, maybe the day he was promoted to lieutenant. He worked twice as hard to please those above him, never questioning why they were changing to harsher methods.

“Nobody saw our fight, we were far from the campsite. Be grateful that I won’t report this to Sienna.” He decided, speaking in a far-off tone, his mind not entirely here. Blake’s ears perked up, hope filled her eyes.

“I promised to always protect you that day, but I can’t save you from yourself Bella,” he spoke softly for the first time in too long while, using the childhood nickname he gave her. Blake was speechless for a moment, he hadn’t called her that since the day he became Sienna Khan’s right hand man. Four years ago.

“This will be the last time I save you.” Adam stated.

“You’re saving me? You have a very funny way of showing it – “

“ – Next time,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “I won’t just leave you here for the night. Next time, I’ll show you the true meaning of interrogation.” His face shifted from pensive to stern, the look of promise in his eyes causing a chill to run through he poor pained faunus. He turned and left.

Blake was left in the dark, half dangling. Her arms ached. _That’s going to leave a mark_ , she thought as she looked up at her arms again. Her aura was still gone.

She knew something like this might happen, Adam doesn’t stand for those who don’t follow orders. This time he was going to keep quiet about her… misbehavior. Next time. Next time will he really stab her in the back and report her to Sienna? _Did I just lose him?_ She thought, saddened by the prospect.

Blake sighed _. I don’t even know anymore. Now what? I can’t just stay here, but, where would I even go? I know no life outside of the White Fang._ She was left to her thoughts along in the dark.

Blake did what she was told after that day, but deep back in her mind she was trying to figure out how the hell she got to this point, and how she’ll get out.

. . .

Weeks passed after that confrontation. Adam revoked her of her duty as an interrogator and instead became his second in command. Blake knew that it was his way of keeping an eye on her. She followed him on missions and helped carry them out.

The faunus never wore the mask. Maybe deep down she knew that what she was doing was wrong, but didn’t follow up on it.

Today was another heist mission. The new interrogator was able to get information of a new shipment of dust. Apparently, the Schnee Dust Co. was getting smarter. Instead of using airships to transport dust, they went the long route and were doing it through trains, hoping to avoid possible theft. The newest shipment was on its way out of Vale, passing through the Forever Fall Forest. Adam and Blake were to intercept them at dawn, when the train passes by their new positioned campsite. This was their last raid, after this they were going back to Mystral, regroup for the next big project.

The feline walked by Adams’ tent, he was speaking to some people. Blake didn’t catch much, having just arrived as the three figures were leaving. She took one look at Adam’s face and she knew it wasn’t a good conversation.

“What was that about?” She asked, leaning her weight on one leg and placing her hand on her hip. They were back to acting casual around each other again. Quarreling between them was nothing new, it was almost normal between them.

Adam just stared at the retreating figures and responded with, “nothing. We need to finish preparing. The train will be here at dawn.” He walked off to another tent, probably to finalize some last-minute details.

With that, Blake walked off into the forest, deep in thought of what has transpired these past few weeks. She looked down at her arms, the chains had left scars. She used extra ribbon she had for Gambol Shroud and tied them on her right arm and her left wrist. She didn’t have enough left to cover her upper left arm, so she made a makeshift sleeve with a metal band to keep it in place. She thought about using her bow ribbon instead but opted against it. She didn’t want to risk it.

When Adam first saw them, he just stared for a bit, and then looked away. _Like it never happened_ , Blake thought. She sat on a large boulder in the middle of a clearing, and looked up at the sky and the broken moon. The leaves of the forest floating around, reminiscent to rose petals. _Beautiful,_ the faunus observed, before a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Blake. Its time,” he announced.

She closed her eyes and sighed. “Okay.” She responded, looking over at him. The feline hopped off the boulder and made her way towards her partner. Both sprinted off toward the railroad tracks, halting as they neared the hill. They waited. Anytime now. _There it is._ Her body soon responded to the adrenaline that coursed through her, jumping off and sliding down the hill at Adam’s heels. Both jumped off and onto the train, they hurried quickly for one of the emergency hatches and dropped down.

As soon as Blake joined Adam in the train, he observed his surroundings and said “looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way.” They both rose, the feline faunus raising her arm to grip her weapon but not drawing it. The bull faunus griping the handle of his, not moving yet either.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Blake responded with a sly smile. Robots surrounded them, this appeased the amber eyed girl _. I can let loose then_ , she concluded.

They stayed immobile, Blake waiting for Adam to make the first move. An Android standing directly in from of him raised both its arms, transforming into some form of machine gun. “Intruder, identify yourself,” it spoke.

Adam fired off his weapon, sending his sword flying to knock the robots’ head back with the handle. Adam soon finishing it off by grabbing his weapon mid-air, slicing through the metal easily and shooting its head off. All in a matter of seconds. This prompted the remaining androids to act offensively, starting towards Blake, who still hadn’t move from her position, with bladed arms. She used her semblance to easily land behind them as they attacked her shadow clone. Then the dance started. The duo were one of the White Fangs best partners for a reason. When they fought alongside each other they did so in sync, no communication was needed. They knew each other so well that it wasn’t necessary, both had each other’s backs.

Maybe it was because they knew each other for years, or because Adam taught her everything she knew. Maybe it was because they fought each other so frequently that they familiarized themselves with how the other moves. They were the best.

As they finished off the remaining robots and moved to the next train car, Adam opened on of the wooden cases. Revealing countless amounts of dust. “Perfect, move up to the next car. I’ll set the charges.” Adam announced.

“Wait, I thought this was a heist mission.” Blake stared at Adam accusingly, “I was never told we were going to blow it up.”

“Well, you do now.” He responded coolly.

“What about the crew members?” She asked, with so much dust, the explosion is going to have a huge impact.

“What about them?” He asked, in a non caring tone.

Blake looked away in disbelief. She was about to retort when they both heard metal movement from the back of the car. A huge android stood before them. They’d never seen one this big.

“Adam!” Blake exclaimed in urgency. They were surrounded by highly explosive crystals and various kinds of dust, if that thing starts shooting near the crates, even aura might not be enough to save them.

Adam quickly moved to divert its attention, moving towards the left side on the train car with no explosive contents. The huge mechanism started shooting, while dodging Adam could feel the amount on power behind them.

Blake moved toward the opposite side, hoping to find a blind spot and cut off its weapons. Tough luck, this type of metal was different, not as easy to slice through like the others. Blake fell back from the impact, landing hard on the metallic floor, disorienting her for a few seconds. Adam rushed in to divert the robot’s attacks, it didn’t work out so well. He ended up getting bitch flicked backwards, and was forced to dodge incoming shots. The robot started advancing, heading to where Blake was still kneeling on the floor. Adam rushed to her and carried her off bridal style. She hoped off, dizziness from the impact fading away.

“We need to get out of here,” Blake said desperately. They were in a very enclosed space, in here, their attacks will be restricted. They needed more room.

Adam said nothing, but was thinking the same thing. He shifted into a defensive position, noticing a change in weaponry from the robot. By the time they realized what was going to happen, the projectile was already speeding towards them. Forcing them backwards and tearing the metal doors open. _Well_ , Blake thought through gritted teeth. “ _That’s one way to get out.”_

Blake and Adam rose, the latter yelling over the the wind that was blowing past them, “buy me some time.”

The feline faunus, realizing what he meant to do, seemed doubtful. “Are you sure?” She yelled back.

“Do it!”

Blake sprinted forward, she needed only to divert its attention for about 12 seconds. That should be enough time. As she dodged an attacked, the robot got in a few hits, but she let her shadow copy take them. When she estimated 12 seconds had passed, she back flipped towards Adam. Glancing over she saw that he was ready, “move!” he barked out. She ran behind him jumping onto the next train car, his semblance was very dangerous, anything at a certain radius from him could be affected by Moonslice.

After absorbing the robot's blast, he counter attacked, disintegrating the mechanism along with a few trees and crates that were near the impact. As Adam turned and walked towards her, Blake looked down. A single metal clamp help these two cars together. On one side was nothing but a path to destruction, and on the other was one of redemption. The crew members were located on her car, and that was all Blake needed to know.

Looking up, she saw Adam pause, sensing a change in the air. She looked at him, memorizing him and hoping never to run paths again, as she reached for Gambol Shroud. She closed her eyes, and her sorrowful expression turned to one of determination. Opening her eyes again she started at the bull faunus’ face, “goodbye.” She said, breaking the only link that held them together. As they drifted apart, she noticed Adam didn’t move. He could have tried to stop her, said something, or even shoot her. But he did nothing. He let her go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And? Am I getting better?


	4. Taking Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short flashback of what happened after Blake decided to take back the WF.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is short I know, as I said in the last chapter it was originally together but I thought this was a good stand alone.

(Present: Back to Blake in Mystral. Remember? Chapter 1?)

Blake had jumped off the tree and began walking to the meeting place.

After discovering the White Fangs’ true intent of bringing down Haven and Adam taking over the White Fang, they came to a conclusion. They needed to take it back, but not by force. Sienna and Adam did what they could about traitors, but many were able to escape the corrupt organization. Safe houses were scattered throughout Remnant, the biggest ones residing in Vacuo and Mystral.

They hoped to gather as many ex-White Fang members who still believed in fighting for equality, hoping they’d be willing to stand up and fight for what the White Fang was previously known for. Blake and Sun when separate ways, gathering as many as they could, the feline hoped that her father would reclaim his previous position.

Blake warmed at his response.

_He laughed, a deep vocal vibration that seemed to rumble._

_“I’m flattered that you thing I can pull it off, but it’s been too long. Besides, I’m Chieftain of Menagerie now. The White Fang is no longer my responsibility, our people are.” He placed his hand on Blake’s shoulder, eyes proudly looking her over._

_“You give me too much credit, as soon as I saw the changes in the organization I choose to leave because it is what I thought was best for my family. In a way, you could say I gave up. It no longer mattered to me of what people might think of us. As long as I had my two precious women in my life, I’d be a happy man.” He told her._

_Blake immediately felt guilt gnaw at her heart. “And then I left you,” she responded with sorrow covering her words._

_“No,” her father said firmly. “I’ve never seen so much determination on a 12-year-old girl. You believed in the White Fang, something I stopped doing. And you continue to do so now, as a grown woman who I’m proud to call my daughter.” Blake’s eyes widened, tears forming at the corners of her eyes but she refuse to cry more than she already has._

_“Your mother and I can’t leave Menagerie with you but that doesn’t mean I’ll stand by and do nothing. I’ve got contacts around the kingdoms of small communities for those who also left the White Fang. From what you’ve told me, if Sienna Khan has been pursuing ‘traitors’ to silence them,” he paused, his expression growing dark. “Then I bet you they’ve been using them as safe houses.”_

_He rummaged through his desk, looking through papers for information. “Communication is down across the kingdoms, the fastest way to go about this is if you and Mr. Wukong split up and cover the biggest areas. Gather as many people as possible before heading to Haven. Once there, you need to get in contact with whoever is in charge and tell them of what’s to happen. They have to believe you as long as you have that proof.”_

_The next few day they spent them organizing and planning. Sun was to go to Vacuo, its closer to Menagerie than Vale, but it would still take about a week by boat. He’ll take a letter written by Ghira Belladonna and take it to the man in charge of that safe house. Blake was to travel to Mystral, being closer than Vacuo she was expected to arrive at her destination in a few days. Sun will then stow away on an airship with as many people as he could convince to Mystral and meet up with Blake._

_“Will they even listen to me?” Blake asked. The whole plan seemed too farfetched. Time being of the essence, little to no communication across long distances, and hoping that anyone will still want to fight after the Fall of Beacon._

_“Let them know what their up against, show them what you’ve found and explain to them the situation. You’d be surprised at how many people will want to fight for others and for themselves.” He looked up from the map that was spread across the table in his study. “But most importantly, you need to be a leader to them. Show them your drive and tell them who you are: You are Blake Belladonna, not the daughter of former leader Ghira Belladonna, but future leader of the New White Fang.”_

Blake was scared shitless. But for once she had an answer to Prof – Dr. Oobleck’s question.

“How am I going to stop corruption and inequality? Well, by taking over a once-peaceful-organization-gone-terrorist that wants to apparently bring our world into destruction,” she announced out loud to no one in particular. _Wow,_ she thought. _That sounded way better in my head._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved that father daughter moment in the show. I thought there should be more, your welcome.


	5. The First Step Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rain leads to shelter, shelter leads to wandering minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Good news and even better news. Finals are over (yay) and an now completely free. Even better news being I will now have so much free time to make these longer and update at a frequent pace. This one will be short to get things started. And if you haven't already maybe check out my OC fanfic? Those are actually a lot longer.

 

It had started to rain, not hard, but enough to end up soaked. Blake continued to walk on the path through the woods until she reached her destination for today. Higanbana. Silently, she continued to walk forward. Blake loved the rain. There was always something calm about it, the sounds it makes against different surfaces making soft thumbing sounds, almost like a lullaby. The feline girl refused to give in to her instincts and stretch in this weather. No, she must keep her guard up. Mystral was a hot place for White Fang movements, if word got around that a traitor was around, it wouldn’t bode well for her.

It wouldn’t come as a surprise for the White Fang to find Blake in Mystral. Given Adam’s… informant… they will be aware of the information that has been leaked. They’d be stupid to just continue as if nothing happened. No, their information leak will cause the faunus group to move ahead of schedule. It’s unknown of when they plan to realize their plan of attack, but it’ll be sooner now that their information has been compromised.

Blake kept on walking, high on alert. Her ears moving this way and that, flickering at any sudden noise that wasn’t as melodic as the rain. She passed by a bar and what looked to be a popular inn. She opted against renting a room, she wanted to stay as far away from the public eye as possible. Alerting the wrong people of her presence will complicate things.

Instead, Blake walked further, towards the less habited part of the town. A few glances around and she found an empty abode. There was no knob on the wooden door, just a piece of wood wedged on the side crack to keep it from opening. The dark-haired girl pulled at the piece of lumber and the door swung open inwards. Taking a few steps in, she let her faunus eyes adjust to the dark enclosed room, surveying the place.

It looked to be some sort of woodshop. It was a small rectangular space, no bigger than her dorm back at Beacon. Tools were thrown haphazardly to the right side of the wall, towards the left was a small makeshift desk. There was no flooring, but the shop was built strategically on raised ground to keep it from flooding. Everything seemed to be slightly covered in dust, giving Blake the impression that no one has been around for a while. Stepping completely inside, Blake turned around and closed the wooden door, wedging the piece of lumber back in place. She them moved to lean against the opposite wall, gripping Gambol Shroud from her back and placed it beside her as she slid down the wall. Facing the door, she ran her hand thru her damp hair, waiting for the rain to stop.

_Just like old times_ , she thought. This situation being reminiscent to her days after her departure from the White Fang. Those days were hard on her, all her life she had a group she could depend on, people she trusted and befriended. But all of that soon changed.

_Was that even friendship to begin with?_ She thought back to before Adam became… whatever it is that he has become… even Ilia… looking back, none of it came close to the relationship she had with Team RWBY. The laughter, the dance, the food fight. Hell, had any of that transpired in the base camp of the White Fang, you’d be given dirty looks. The members would conclude that you aren’t taking faunus rights seriously, and deem you unworthy of being a freedom fighter.

Blake smiled at the memories of the food fight, how Nora started it all, Ruby’s dramatic opening speech, Wiess’ swordfish skills, and Yang’s turkey fists.

Closing her eyes, she willed herself to think about her for the first time since she left Menagerie. Her fiery attitude, her exaggeration with her hair, and that spark of excitement she gets in her lilac eyes when she’s enjoying a fight.

_“Why me?” Blake asked the brawler, confused at the prospect of being chosen for a sparring match._

_“Well, why not?” The blonde asked back, cocking her head to the side. “C’mon, it’ll be fun! We hardly ever hang out much, your always nose deep into a book,” Blake shifted her eyes from the pages to her partner. “Yeah, like that.” Rolling her eyes, the feline turned her attention back to the pages in from of her._

_They were in their dorm, Blake was leaning against the headboard of her bed holding a novel. Yang was currently doing some sit ups in-between her bed and Weiss,’ facing the window and peeking at Blake every time she sat up. She stopped counting after fifty, saying something along the lines of ‘true strength has no limit.’_

_“Maybe we can try out a new move, although it probably won’t be as epic as ‘bumblebee,’” she chuckled as she dropped back down. “I don’t know where Ruby gets the ideas for these team attack names,” she added, rising back up again._

_Blake said nothing, keeping her eyes on her book. But silently wondered if Ruby just blurts out the first thing that comes to her mind when thinking of two colors._

_“We’re opposites,” Yang blurted out of nowhere._

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Well, my style of fighting is more ‘act now think later,’ you’re more stealth and quiet. Plus, your very acrobatic, clashes with mine. I’d be a good workout.” She rose back up and stopped doing sit-ups, placed her hands behind her and stretching her legs forward. Her face turned rigid. “I mean, see what happened with that Neo girl?”_

_Blake lowered her book and glanced over at her, noticing her change in attitude. She saw the blonde’s hand clench to a fist and the hardened features on her once expressive face. She had taken it hard after that train fight a while back, training more and with doubled efforts. The faunus was at a loss of what to do or say._

Do people generally say something motivational during moments like this? Or maybe hugs? Hugs rise spirits, right? _Blake thought, unsure of what to do. It was odd to see Yang with such a hard expression, she was the powerhouse of the group, cheering everyone on with a smile on her face._

_“Well, then I guess we’re going to have to practice a lot together if you plan on beating her next time,” Blake winced slightly. She sounded way out of character, but if sparring with Yang got her to stop making those expressions, then she would do it._

_After the talk Yang gave her before the dance, the duo grew a bit closer. Yang sharing her past with the feline not only brought them closer as partners, but it slapped some sense into her. When she has an objective in mind the dark-haired girl tends to lose her focus of everything else. There’s more to Yang than meets the eye, and it made Blake feel… good… the fact that she had someone to lean on. More than one. She had… friends, this was different than in the White Fang._

_Yang’s face turned sharply to her right, her eyes widening in surprise and excitement._

_“Really?” she exclaimed._

_“Why are you so surprised, weren’t you the one who asked me?” Blake asked, raising an eyebrow._

_“Well, yeah. But I never thought you’d agree to it.” She responded, her face warming up. No longer a cold expression that could’ve rivaled Weiss.’_

_“There’s always Nora, you know. I bet she’d be up for it,” Blake suggested._

_“We have, but we kinda clash. And are pretty similar, I want to go against something that’s different and challenging. Besides, it’s always good to practice what your good at but even better to practice on parts you lack.”_

_“I see what you mean,” Blake deduced. “I excel at long range fighting and evasion, but hand to hand will come in handy if I’m unarmed.”_

_Yang was getting more and more excited, glad she was able to get Blake out of her shell a little more. As small as the step was._

_“Then I guess were gonna help each other out,” she stated rising from her position on the floor._

_Blake closed her book and placed it on the bookshelf on the wall, grabbing her scroll that she had lying on the bed. She had to admit that working out with Yang will be beneficial, but she was actually looking forward to this. She made her way to the door where Yang stood waiting, her grim expression from earlier vanished completely._

_“Ready to go, partner?”_

Thunder crackled loudly, white lightning illuminating the dark cold shelter she’s sat in, unmoving. The rain had started to pick up, now pouring rivers creating loud impacts on the roof. Blake looked up and silently wondered if this place will hold up. The memory of her partner still fresh in her mind, a good memory. _That was an interesting work-out_ , she thought. Fighting alongside her was certainly different that fighting against her.

The now roaring storm continued to assault this village. It’ll be a few hours before it let up. Blake rested her head on her knees, crossing her arms to cover her face and maybe try to rest her eyes, knowing that sleep would be near impossible. So, she let her mind wander again, not surprisingly going back to the blond brawler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Her first flashback of Yang. I'm debating whether to include the sparring match scene. Its actually done but I cut it off because I'm not that confident on the fighting scenes so I'm taking my time with it. I did try out my first (kinda) fight scene on my OC's fic, but I'm still iffy. Thoughts?


	6. The First Step Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake reaches her destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I took some time to work on some art for my RWBY OC story. The silhouettes are finally done and Artemis' concept art is done as well. 3 more members to go. If your interested go check that story out!

Blake breathed in deeply, taking in that smell of the aftermath of the storm. The smell of wet dirt and the slight drizzling had a very calming effect. She hated the thunder however, her sensitive feline appendages were far too sensitive for loud noises. Luckily thunder didn’t accompany the lightning last night.

It’s been a few weeks since she left Menagerie, _or has it been longer?_ She thought. It feelt like months since she’s been scouting for refugees, surprised at the amount of people who were still willing to keep fighting even after what the White Fang has become, even after the tragedy of the Fall of Beacon. She could also, however, sense their hesitation.

Can she blame them? She’s nothing but a near 19-year-old girl that didn’t even start her second year at a hunter’s academy. Not even a full-fledged huntress.

She knew, nevertheless, that although she is followed by previous White Fang members, she knows that is not enough to stop the inevitable fight that’s to come. Her father made sure to remind her of that. This wasn’t a battle between races anymore, it’s between mankind and whatever evil forces were out there creating mayhem.

As the faunus continued forward she used her time to think things over. What was the real fight that was happening? Who was involved? And what was ‘their’ next move

Blake knew firsthand what were Adam’s goals and methods, but attacking a hunter’s academy made no sense. Someone else is pulling the strings. And, according from what she heard from sun, it turned out Emerald’s team was behind the Beacon disaster.

This meant that Adam must be working with them or for them. As of now, Blake didn’t know what their true aim was, but what she does know is that the White Fang is a big part of what she feels is danger brewing. Taking them out of the picture might not only give them answers but also lessen the opposing forces strength.

Accoring to Ilia’s scroll, the White Fang is currently located somewhere in Mistral, or heading that way. Where Adam intends to overthrow Sienna Kahn.

The current leader’s views were more violent than that of her father’s according to Adam back when she was in the Fang. But she never once met him. Is it possible Adam created a negative picture of him to try and get his way? Was Adam the one who spread all that negativity that poisoned the once peaceful organization? Or was Blake just gripping at straws again… hoping Adam wasn’t the culprit?

_He stabbed you for crying out loud!_ Blake thought, stopping in her tracks briefly closing her eyes and clenching her fists at her sides. _And he was willing to decapitate you after that…_

_But maybe… maybe he knew that I’d use my semblance._

Her face turned rigid and her mouth was pressed into a straight line.

_I’m a damn idiot,_ she huffed, irritated. _Even before that he hurt me. Maybe I’m the one that’s messed up. I practically grew up around so much violence that now I find it normal, a part of my life. Did I ever really have friends before Beacon to begin with?_

_Adam was more of a mentor, an older brother. He seemed interested in me but I never reciprocated. He was always the type of person who would have a goal and see through it relentlessly. I think I might have gotten that from him if Roman’s investigation wasn’t proof enough back during her Beacon days._  

Adam almost never smiled after being lieutenant, only truly being a close friend when they weren’t in the With Fang, back in their childhood.

Then there was Ilia. She wasn’t as close to her as Adam during her childhood, only starting to hang out together when Adam became to engrossed in the organization. They got along okay but Blake, being the daughter of the esteemed High Leader, didn’t spend much time with anyone. She mostly kept to herself, until she too became involved.

_The past is the past_ , she thought. Looking up she noticed the moon was still hidden by the dark clouds, still letting loose a drizzle of rain. She closed her eyes again, feeling a few drops fall on her face and drip down slowly, looking very much like tears.

_I keep looking back, counting every little mistake that I can’t change._ She sighed, opening her eyes and looking forward. _If I keep looking back into the past, then why do I keep making the same mistakes again and again?_ She brought up one hand and ran it frustratingly through her hair, mindful of her ears.

“What the hell am I supposed to do,” she muttered under her of breath. She forced those thoughts out of her mind and started walking again.

It shouldn’t be long before she reached her destination, Kuchinashi; a city in the Kingdom of Mistral, located to the south of the main city, and also the place where she will be meeting up with Sun.

Due to its distance from the capital, the city is farther from the governing council's watch, this makes it an ideal location for thieves, assassins and other people who want to stay hidden from authorities. A suitable place to hide, for now. It’s also a place to look for information, if Sun or Blake get there first they are to gather as much information as possible and bring the other up to date.

Sun, knowing these lands better, knew a safe place where the group of ex-White Fang members could stay hidden, out of the said organization’s eye. Blake had given the people she gathered directions of where to head while she scouted one more safe-house in Anima.

It, however, no longer existed.

Blake’s guess was that the White Fang found out about the safe-house and dealt with it because it was crawling with members, hence the chasing the previous night. She was slightly worried that she’d be recognized, but she didn’t fight them and wasn’t wearing her signature bow. She was also far too fast for them to get a good look at her. Probably just wanted to catch whoever they thought was snooping around.

********

Blake walked in to a shady looking bar, the tattered looking door screeched from rustiness and overuse. As soon as she entered, she stopped and took a glance around. It was a very dim lit place that looked like it was one of the first building built. Walls looked worn down, lamps looked old fashioned, and the tables had writing and carvings from previous customers, Blake assumed.

A bar was straight ahead where a bartender was currently serving some guests that Blake recognized as some of the people she scouted. The small tables that littered around were also filled with more people that she guessed Sun also brought along. Towards the right side was a stairwell that lead to a second floor of rooms that they were currently staying in. Decorations consisted of job offers, wanted posters, a pool table and a bullseye. She spotted a blond tail near the pool table, and knowing who it belonged to, prompted Blake to stride over.

“ – so then the mech was gaining on us and we ended up jumping from car to car in the highway. It’s a lot easier than it sounds, but anyway, Blake and the rest of her team ended up tearing that thing apart! I think a bridge was destroyed and the highway was closed off for repairs.” As Blake neared she hear the end of his conversation, seeing the monkey faunus to knock a red solid in.

As she neared the pool table she saw his opponent straighten up at her approach, recognizing her. The player had hazel eyes and what Blake assumed was a tail from what she could see.

“Speaking of, where did you and Neptune end up disappearing to, halfway through the chase,” she asked in a very nonchalant voice.

Sun turned around at the new voice and look startled. “Blake you’re here!” He put down the cue stick and strode over to her. As soon as he was within distance he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, while Blake just blinked in awkwardness. She raised her hand to rest it on his bicep and took a step back, conspicuously stepping away. The monkey faunus noted her discomfort and stepped back, placing his hands on her shoulders instead, looking her over for any sign of injury.

“You’re here a lot sooner than I thought, we only just got here two days ago. Did you run into any trouble?” He asked, slightly concerned and finally letting go, seeing as she seemed okay physically.

“Sort of, the last safe house I headed for ended up being compromised already. I was chased but I doubt they recognized me, they looked too young and inexperienced. Probably new recruits.” She responded, secretly glad to see a familiar face again. She hated being alone with her treacherous thoughts.

Sun’s face darkened at her response. “I really hope they stay out of the big picture, they’re probably too young to get mixed up in this.”

“That’s saying somethin’ coming from youngins themselves,” a new voice called out.

The pair turned to a big built guy who was currently shooting darts at a bullseye. He reminded Blake of her father with his tall overbearing form, he however had tough looking scales at the side of his face and currently had two darts at the outer bullseye of the board, a third in his hand.

The man turned around to face the two friends, the dim lighting casting more shadows on his face due to the scales, making him look much more intimidating. His eyes glowed an eerie yellow, unlike the cat faunus’ mysterious amber. A few of the faunus surrounding him heard the outspoken comment and shifted to get a better view of the rising confrontation that everyone seemed to be waiting for.

Blake stood still for a few moments, her facial expression static and revealing nothing. Sun on the other hand seemed to look nervous and exasperated, apparently this wasn’t the first time this individual expressed something of this nature.

“That’s Van Dyke. Reptilian faunus. Thinks this whole thing is impossible… ” Sun spoke directly to Blake, in a whisper. “… yet still happened to come along.” He finished, loud enough for the man in question to hear.

Van took a brief glance at the monkey faunus but then focused on Blake. Taking in his first true glance at the person who started this new found makeshift group. He regarded her with an odd look that she couldn’t place before it soon faded back into a defiant one.

“So, this is the Belladonna girl, huh?” Without breaking his gaze, he threw his last dart behind him. Judging by Sun’s sudden silence, Blake guessed it must have hit the bullseye. A quick glance sideways confirmed this. Judging from the placement of all three darts Blake was slightly impressed at the score thus far. “The Belladonna name has been highly praised for many decades. Hell, when I was a boy I remember Ghira was a very respected fighter, even I looked up to him.”

Blake’s expression still hadn’t changed, willing to hear the man’s concerns of the current position they were all in; a hand full of people trying to bring down a corrupt organization that will be supposedly led by a 19-year-old girl. Inside however she was slightly miffed. He probably grew up in Menagerie if he knew her father and although this bar consisted of all faunus, there are some things you just don’t share outside the island were human ears were a danger to many of their secrets.

Sun on the other hand, looked confused with an incredulous expression. Probably thinking the obvious; what on earth was the man was talking about? This so-called Van Dyke seemed to be the oldest person in the group, looking 50 but he could bet his banana stash that he surpassed that. If that guy claims that Ghira (who looks way younger) fought long enough to be a respected figure when the reptilian was a boy, then just how old is Blake’s father?

“ – it’s just,” he continued, “I find it hard to believe… no, I find it almost sad that someone so young and who knows nothing is taking the place of someone as esteemed as him. You’re too inexperienced and young to lead such an important group. You know nothing about the politics, the funding, the planning and strategizing that goes into this. I just don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into, this isn’t a game to play follow the leader.”

There. He said it. He said what everyone in that bar was thinking.

Blake knew this type of confrontation would come sooner or later. Hell, _she_ wondered the same damn thing. She wouldn’t lie to these people however. These people were those who choose to not follow the dark path that the White Fang took. Something she couldn’t do. So, what she said next was nothing but the truth laid out on the table.

“Your right…” she started. That alone got the rest of the faunus present to turn in their seats and face her. She looked around and noticed her current attention before saying, “I’m not my father, I’m not a competent enough leader to lead such an important organization on my own. I don’t know much about politics, raising money, leading people… but I do know this: I _never_ , give up.”

She turned back to stare directly at Van, it was her turn to talk. And she was making sure he listened to what she had to say.

“When you all noticed about the White Fang’s sudden change in actions following my father’s resignation. What did you do?”

Some faces turned rigid, others looked away. Van still held Blake’s gaze however, unrelenting.

“You left. You gave up, you lost hope. You stashed yourselves away in safe houses living in fear of the day you were found.”

The atmosphere felt heavy, and Blake could clearly sense Sun feeling uncomfortable, probably wondering what the dark haired girl was thinking. Did she want them to turn their back and leave?

“I am, by no means, belittling you. To be honest, sometimes I wish I had the smarts to leave as well. Maybe then, I wouldn’t have had to live the horrors of what I’ve seen.” Blake’s expression broke. Her face expressed sorrow and regret. She willed herself to open up to these strangers. To let them see who she is, what she’s gone through, and hopefully see her resolve.

“I stayed. Not because I was scared to leave, but because I had hope. I hoped that somehow the White Fang would be okay, or that maybe I could do something to keep it from being what it’s become. But, that was nothing more than wishful thinking. The day when I was told to blow up a SDC train with civilians inside, is the day I broke away from them.”

Flashes of that day came back, but Blake willed them away. She wouldn’t let them overcome her at such an important moment.

Sun on the other hand was also looking at the feline faunus, surprised at her sudden openness and aghast at what she was telling. He knew she was part of the Fang but never did she once share specific details of her time with them. She hated talking about it.

“ – I might have been away from the White Fang, but I still hoped to make a change. I attended a hunter’s school, hoping to learn as much as I could to find the strength and the knowledge to do so. But, as you can guess, the White Fang had other plans. They no longer fight for faunus rights. They attacked a school filled with humans AND faunus who yearned to protect humanity. I fought at the Fall of Beacon, a day where people died at the hands of the White Fang’s doings. I don’t know who they are taking orders from but I do know they aren’t alone.”

Blake took a deep breath, trying to shake the wavering from her voice.

“I hid my heritage on my time there, and at one point I accidently outed myself,” she looked over at Sun, smiling softly as she recalled the day the ran away, and he found her. “my teammates accepted me for who I am, and what I once was. They didn’t let my past define me, they knew I was once part of the organization, yet they still accepted me. Hell, one of them nearly risked her own life to physically save me from Adam… she - …”

Her voice cracked at the thought of Yang. She closed her eyes and breathed in one more time. As she blew out a shaking breath, she felt a hand on her right shoulder. Looking up, she was met with Sun’s blue eyes. Eyes that reminded her of the ocean waters from Menagerie, waters that calmed her down at the sight whenever she felt overwhelmed.

Falling back in control she kept going, noticing that everyone was still looking at her with attention.

“… she was there for me,” _and I wasn’t there for her_ “she, along with the rest of my team, were there for me when I needed it the most. They helped me deal with the White Fang again and again. They had my back, and I had theirs.” _Yet why do I feel like I failed them. Failed HER._

_Because I did._

“My point being that, it is a fact that I can’t do this…” some faces finally cracked and turned to disappointment, deflation of hope. “… on my own that is.” Heads shot back up in surprise.

“An organization like this isn’t one that can be led by one person for the others to listen and follow orders. This needs to be a group of people who work together to reach a common goal. I hope to merely be a representative, I stayed long enough to know the inner workings, and I aim to do the rest to the best of my ability. But, I can’t do this without your help. I know some of you here are great strategists, others are well informed of politics, many more own a business and know how to make money. But most of all, all of you are fighters. You might have left the White Fang, but the fact that you are here, means that you still haven’t completely given up.”

Blake had been drifting from gaze to gaze during that speech, until she reached Van Dyke’s again.

“I know better than anyone that this is not a ‘game,’ I am scarred both inside and out of the things I’ve been through. I know that doesn’t compare to many others that have gone through worse, but even that will not compare for what’s to come if we don’t do something. I’m not planning on ‘playing the leader’ because I’m not going to lead this group, we _all_ are. And… I might not know who or what is the cause of what’s happening out there, but I do know exactly what I’m getting myself into. Because I won’t stand by and do nothing knowing that there was something I could have done to prevent the Fall of Beacon to happen again.”

At this point, every faunus in the room had their jaws set with decision. Nobody move or breathed for a few seconds until Blake heard Sun whisper in her ear, “I think that’s the longest I’ve heard you speak…”

Blake closed her eyes and brought her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose with exasperation.

“Really? _Now_ of all times Sun?”

He chuckled, and was about to say something when they heard someone move. Looking up they saw that Van had turned away and started walking up towards the dart board. He grabbed his darts one by one, taking his time. After a moment of pause and a far-off look at the game board, he walked back over to the faunus with the determined amber eyes, stopping just shy of personal space.

He looked at her for a while longer, that nostalgic look that Blake now identified, present on his face.

“… I once had a daughter that looked very similar you, it’s almost uncanny. She had the same drive you do, it brings back memories,” he spoke quietly.

Van held out one of darts he had just collected towards the cat faunus. Said faunus looked at his hand, then back up to his face in a questioning glance. Hesitantly taking it.

“Your father was a great leader, is a great Chieftain, and from what I’ve just witnessed, an even greater father. I can certainly see why the phrase ‘like father like daughter’ exists, but you’re right. You’re not your father. You’re one brave youngster, one that’s seen the world for what it is; the good, the bad, and the fucked up. Yet you managed somehow. There’s even a rumor you managed to befriend a Schnee,” he arched an eyebrow at that.

“She’s nothing like her father,” Blake immediately defended without thinking.

“Hmmm, guess that phrase don’t work for everyone. But I know something that I am positive will work for us…” He turned and threw one of his darts and hit the bullseye dead center. He then turned to her and waited. Figuring out what he wanted her to do, Blake threw her given dart expertly, not landing on the board. Instead, it landed on top of the first dart.

Van looked impressed and looked towards her again, the feline guessing that she passed some sort of silent-non-descriptive-manly-game test.

“… partnership.”

Blake’s eyes widened at his verbal response to her request, not believing what she was hearing.

“Ghira was an exceptional leader back then, and still is now. But maybe leadership aint what the White Fang needs anymore. I’m in.”

Amber eyes stared in disbelief at the nods and smiling faces that were thrown around, a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. Now it seemed to be carried with the help of every faunus present.

Sun wrapped his arm around Blake’s shoulders, and she let him for once. Although one obstacle has been crossed, there were many more she needed to take.

Her thoughts went to her teammates. She wondered how Weiss was doing, from the way she avoided talking about her father she hoped she was doing okay. How much had her leader changed after seeing the horrors this world had to offer? Blake always enjoyed Ruby's optimism. How was Yang? Did she hate her for leaving even after hearing what she went through with her mother? Is she back up on her feet?

_She’s too strong to let this stop her. She’ll find her fire again with or without me._

_But I still need to find her. I need to talk to her. I won’t hope for forgiveness, I won’t even be surprised if she hates me._

_I just hope she’s willing to listen,_ she thought with uneasiness, because Adam was still out there. And there’s no telling when his next move will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I wanted to include the chapter of Yang and Blake's sparring match, but I'm not confident with it yet. I will post it in a future chapter.


	7. The Awaited Reunion Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people meet. Some hugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read my latest chapter in my other fic (Team MAUV) ignore this. 
> 
> So I'm late to this because I decided to attend RTX last minute. I never realized so much goes into a preparation to a weekend trip. Never been out of my home town. Things will go back to normal now. School will be starting but I don't think it should delay things too much. But I'll let you know. 
> 
> I also had some trouble posting this, some weird characters kept showing up. It posted fine on fanfiction but not here. Anyone know what's up with that? I'm not computer savvy. 
> 
> Either way, Enjoy.

Blake was itching to have a go at the pool table, playing chess with her father was great and all. But playing pool was one of the only good memories she had of the White Fang, and there was something about being surrounded by these people that truly warmed her heart. Perhaps she was reminiscing of the old days?

Pool would have to wait however, after figuring where everyone stood, it was now time to lay out a plan. The sooner they moved, the better. Time was spent talking, mainly on what their next move will be, and how they were going to approach the headmaster at Haven with their information of the White Fang. Ideas were thrown around, scratched out, rewritten and thrown out again. It's a done deal that showing up with a group of ex-white fang members was not a good impression for their introduction. This is where things got complicated. Sun and Blake were the only ones that attracted the least attention, being young and won't stand out at a hunter's academy. As a matter of fact, they blend in. Blake, however, had a price on her head, literally.

Sun caught her up with the information he gathered. Although she was not in a wanted poster, word was out that a high-ranking member of the White Fang was willing to pay a price for the capture of Blake Belladonna. These rumors were mainly only spread on the undergrounds; where rooks, low lives, assassins, and thieves where the main population. Although this didn't surprise Blake, what she heard next did.

"What do you mean Weiss is no longer the heiress?" Blake exclaimed.

Sun looked at her with a sympathetic expression, "There was a news poster up on one of the bulletins, or everywhere really. I don't know how recent the news is with communications down but the it has been up for a while."

Blake's expression darkened. She had seen a brief glance of Weiss' father when he all but dragged her into that expensive looking car, and damn did he look like an atrocious parent figure. Weiss must have done something to have been stripped of her heritage, something that Yang would most definitely approve of.

"There's something else you might want to hear," he continued. "There is this story going around about of group of huntsmen taking down this historic Nuckelavee Grimm. A supposedly strong and old Grimm that's been plaguing this certain area for decades."

Blakes eyebrows rose, "wow, that type of Grimm is pretty rare. I've heard about it in some history books I read a while back. But, why is that relevant?" Blake asked, still quite shocked at the news about her snow-haired friend.

Sun's expression then turned eager. "Well, that group of 'huntsmen'? I heard their descriptions; a loud redhead with a hammer, a reserved guy with a streak of pink in his hair, a young looking one with a red cape, and some blonde guy that apparently some people confused me with." He looked at Blake expectantly, awaiting her reaction.

The noirette blinked. Once. Then twice. "Oh, my Gods..." she alleged quietly, connecting the dots and realized who they were.

"Yup, that was pretty much my expression too." The blond laughed.

"... but, what are they doing here? Why is _Ruby_ here of all people?"

The monkey faunus scratched the back of his head and took a glance around in thought. They were in the second floor of the tavern, inside one of the many rooms that this place offered. It wasn't big or fancy in any way. All it consisted of was two mattresses and a desk. No lighting of the sorts, all they had as a light source was the moonlight. It shone quite beautifully through the only window, broken and no curtains. Blake had though about covering it with one of the blankets, but given that they were in the second floor and no other buildings were more than one story, they weren't in danger of being shot from a higher point. Plus, there were only two blankets.

Both faunus were currently sitting on one of the mattresses, which made no difference to sitting on the floor really.

"Well, Ruby always stroke me as a very determined person, maybe she went after those responsible for Pyrrah? Makes sense that the rest of JNPR is with her too." Sun guessed.

He wasn't wrong, Ruby is the type of person who would help anyone in need and ask for nothing in return. She witnessed Pyrrah's downfall, one would think she'd need time to deal with the mental trauma that could cause. What if she's changed and left in look for revenge? _Would... would Yang be with her?_

"Did you hear anything about... Yang?" Blake asked tentatively.

Sun looked at her with understanding, "No, I didn't, I'm sorry."

 _No._ Blake didn't know if to feel relieved or saddened by that answer. "Why are you sorry," she asked, confused at his response.

"Well, don't you want to see her?"

"... I don't know." Blake was faced with an internal battle. She had told herself earlier that she needed to find her, explain herself to her. Where has all that fire gone?

She could only guess that the adrenaline of the excitement from her earlier speech and response much have given her a shred of confidence. Maybe, now that it died down she was less assured? Blake doesn't even know what to do or say if she finds her face to face. What if... what if she doesn't want anything to do with her?

 _..._ _I guess I'd understand that, as much as it scares me. I'd understand if she hates me for leaving._ Chuckling humorlessly to herself she thought, _wasn't that what I wanted? I'm such a self-centered idiot._

"You're not." Sun spoke up suddenly.

The raven-haired woman looked up sharply. _Did I say that out loud?_ "Huh?"

"You're not an idiot," he repeated.

Sun was probably the last person she'd consider pouring out her feelings to, hell she normally wouldn't pour out her feelings. Period. But, even if it was against her wishes, he was there for Blake. And then with the whole Ilia thing...

"Nothing's changed Sun. I might have made a decision to come here and take action, but I'm still scared," She admitted, looking away.

"Hey, that's perfectly normal. I'd be freaked out if you _weren't._ Nobody goes into a fight, into a war, without feeling scared for their lives," He placed his hand on Blake's, trying to get the introvert to look at him.

This frustrated Blake. Her situation, her actions, her way of thinking. Everything. "YOU DON'T GET IT! I  - “

At her sudden outburst, she stood up, yanking her hand from under Sun's and running them through her hair, catching on her ears almost painfully. That didn't matter to her right now though.

She stopped, took a big breath and let it out slowly. The next time she spoke was a lot more controlled. She realized this conversation was reminiscent to the one she had with him after the Ilia incident.

"When I think about what we are trying to do, what we are _going_ to do, I'm scared. But not for me, for you. And now for Ruby and the rest of team JNPR, I..." _Gosh, why was this so hard?_ "Knowing that the White Fang, a group of people I once considered family, is willing to hurt... to _kill_ those who oppose them, us, frightens me. But knowing that the choices I made, that I am making right know by fighting back, might put those I care about in danger? _That_ terrifies me."

Blake soon realized why. Back when she was in the White Fang, when she had become what Adam is now, she'd fight without fear. She wasn't afraid of getting killed, she wasn't afraid of seeing people get killed. She didn't have anything to lose at that point, she had lost her humanity, what else was there to lose?

But now, after getting partnered up with Yang, after becoming a team with Ruby and Weiss, after having friends, she realized what she had been missing. Love, friendship, and how could she have forgotten her family? It was new, feeling that way, but she liked it.

Until she didn't.

As she was laying on the floor with Adam hovering over her, she wasn't scared. She was conflicted, seeing him again, seeing the monstrosity of what she once was. She hoped, hoped that she could get through to him. But at that point she knew he was too far gone. _I lost him._ As she waited for him to strike, she heard him utter those words, "I will make it my mission, to destroy everything you love"

Those words. Those words made her shutter in fear. But hearing Yang call out her name, and seeing Adam's face shift to a sadistic smirk. Her heart stopped. She realized that she now had everything to lose. And _that_ paralyzed her in fear.

"I couldn't lose her too. I made sure to leave a trail for the Fang to follow me, and leave everyone else alone while they heal." She muttered mostly to herself, but Sun was able to hear her.

"She means a lot to you huh?"

"She means everything to me," she whispered, looking out the window, her heart aching at how their reunion will come about. She though about her; her loud personality that rivaled Nora's, her obsession with her beautiful golden locks, her role of mama bear whenever someone from the team got hurt. _And damn can she throw a good punch,_ she thought, her jaw slightly twitching at the memory of their sparring days.

Meanwhile, Sun was quietly observing her. A look of wondering turned into realization in a matter of seconds. He stared intently at her for a few more moments before giving her a sad smile.

"I never had a chance, did I?" he spoke softly, not entirely a question.

Blake's brows creased in confusion, turning away from the moon and facing him. "What do you mean?"

"Yang," he answered, "you care about her, don't you?"

This seemed to confuse the faunus even more. "Of course I do, she's my friend. And partner." _Or we used to be anyway_ , she thought, _hopefully we can still be._

Now Sun was the confused one. _Does she not realize it herself?_ He thought. Pondering it for a moment, he was debating whether he should just go right out and say it, or just let things be.

He's seen that look on her face before, there's no doubt about it. Blake's caring of Yang went far beyond friendship. He would know, he's seen that look in the mirror many times.

"Never mind," he concluded out loud, "I'll let you figure it out."

It hurt him, to he honest. He really thought he had a shot. From the moment he first saw her out at the docks, he knew he wanted to get to know that dark-haired beauty that hid underneath a black bow. He took every chance he got to get to know her better, and when he found her out on the streets of Vale with this broken and defeated look on her face, he knew that there was more to her. He wanted to help, so he offered to listen. And boy was he surprised to learn more about her. The blonde's thoughts also wondered to other times, like the school dance and his silly moves for her at the tournament, after his team won. Boy did he have it bad for her.

His response however, made Blake's expression go from confusion, to a complete loss. And since he didn't seem to want to elaborate, she let it go.

"I just don't get you sometimes," she finally said. Ending that conversation.

"So," Sun started, helping her in changing the topic, "I'll go tomorrow to the academy, try to get a meeting in with the headmaster as soon as possible. And let Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet know I'm not dead."

Blake didn't like it, she didn't want Sun to go out alone. But it was the best course of action. Blake should avoid being in the public eye for as long as possible. With her face hanging under a good amount of lien, she risks outing herself and alerting the White Fang that she is here, if she hasn't done so already.

"How far is the tower from here?" she asked Sun.

"Pretty close, why?"

The introvert paused in thought. "Do you think our scrolls will work from this distance?"

"Huh, never thought about it," he answered in surprise. "Well, there's only one way to find out, right?" Sun didn't stand, he simply stretched out his right leg and fetched his scroll from his right pocket. Scrolling through his contacts, he finally found the one he was looking for and selected it.

It rang once. Twice. And then a click, followed by static sounds.

"H - llo? Sun?

"Neptune!" The blonde exclaimed in surprise and happiness.

"How in the world did - et - ing to work?" his voice kept cutting off, but it worked, so that's something. "Where - ou?"

Sun glanced towards Blake, who shook her head in warning. "I'm actually on my way there, should reach the school tomorrow.

"For fu -'s sake Sun, a letter wouldn't ha- killed you?!"

Sun rubbed the back of his neck, with a sheepish look on his face.

"Hehe, sorry. Well listen, I kinda have some stuff to fill you in on, where do you want to meet-"

The rest of the conversation then drifted. Sun made plans to leave tomorrow morning, schedule a meeting with the headmaster, and reunite with his teammates. Blake and the rest of the group will have to stay and keep in the dark.

For now.

_______________

As Sun made his way into the academy, he stopped for a minute and stared at the front entrance. He remembered the first time he walked through those doors, the first time he met his team, he remembered how excited they were to attend the Vital Festival Tournament. He was so excited for that event he ended up stowing away on a ship earlier than his team. Now that all that youth and innocence was gone, light shined through their minds. There was more to being a hunter/tress than just protecting people.

This is a hunter's academy, meant to fight Grimm and protect humanity. Now, mislead faunus were fighting ruthlessly against humanity, along with something else that lurks in the shadows. Will this really be the start of a war?

Sun stepped inside his old home and made his way towards his dorm. He had agreed to meet his team for lunch at the dining hall but he needed a change of clothing, maybe a new outfit was on the horizon. Something new and upgraded.

Along the way he thought about what he was going to tell his friends. How was he going to break it to them that the fight is going to come here as well? They couldn't let the Fall of Beacon happen again, they would do everything in their power to stop them from succeeding. Whoever _they_ are, because like Blake said, they aren't doing this alone.

As he turned a corner leading to the elevator that would take him to his floor, the fast pacing he was going in soon caused a collision against some girl.

"Oooofh -“

"Sorry," Sun quickly grabbed the small girl and steadied her, "I didn't see y - Ruby!?"

"Sun?!" the red head exclaimed.

The reason Sun didn't recognize her was because she looked so different. Her outfit had also changed like that of Blake's and she seemed more... mature? He couldn't put his finger on it but it was almost as if her eyes reflected the dangerous world out there. Her signature cape is the only thing that remained unchanged, aside from some heavy weathering around the edges.

"What are you doing here! Last I heard you took down some legendary Grimm a few villages back!" The faunus asked in complete surprise. _Man, Blake is either going to love the news or freak out,_ he thought.

"Hehe yeah well we ran into some trouble and - wait. How'd you know that?"

"What do you mean how I know," Sun asked incredulously. "People everywhere are talking about it!"

"Oh. Really?"

"Yeah! Where are Nora, Ren and Jaune? I heard they were with you too."

"Oh, they're not far. Nora ran out the door as soon as she heard they were serving pancakes today. Ren ran after her with Jaune not far behind. I told them I'd catch up in a bit after seeing how my uncle Qrow was doing."

"Your uncle?"

"Yeah! We ran into him after, umm. Well. It's a long story," Ruby laughed half-heartedly, "you can catch the whole story once we meet with the headmaster."

"Wait, is that why you're here?"

"Part of it, yeah. We know some stuff that I think you'd want to know. About all that's going on out there."

"Actually, I have some stuff you should know too. I literally just got back right now, and the things we discovered out there are worse than it seems."

"We?"

"Uhh, yeah I-" Sun paused, wondering if he should mention Blake or not. "I was with a friend, a friend that can probably explain this better than I can, which is why I also need to set a meeting with the headmaster."

"Hmm, in that case don't you think we should all go - WEISS?!" was all he heard before the red head disappeared, leaving rose petals in her wake.

Turning around he confirmed Ruby's statements of the heiress, err, ex-heiress, walking towards them. Ruby's sudden appearance seemed to have shocked the beautiful girl. That and suddenly having a small girl clinging to you like a monkey (ironically) tended to do that to people.

"Ruby?"

"Weiss?" Sun asked in confusion. Now Blake was really going to freak.

She locked eyes with the blonde.

"Sun." She stated with much less enthusiasm.

"Weiss' sister!" Ruby then did something Sun never saw her do before. She got off Weiss and curtsied, gripping the sides of her skirt and bowing her head while adding, "Uh, I mean. Hello, Miss Winter."

On either side of her stood the most poised stance woman he had ever seen. Winter Schnee, accompanied by General Ironwood. _What were they doing here?_ Last he heard, the Atlas Military was stationed in, well, Atlas. Was it possible they knew of the incoming attack?

"Ruby," the silver haired girl responded. "What are you doing here?"

"Uhhh, long story short? I came here on a lead that Uncle Qrow suspiciously gave me which lead to Mistral. Damn was it a long trip, I've never seen so many different Grimm that what we've read about in class. Did you know Nuckelavee Grimm are so noisy? I felt like my eardrums were about to burst!" Ruby continued rambling.

At the mention of Qrow however, seemed to have interested the two Military officials.

"Qrow is here?" the general asked.

"Oh yeah, he got hurt trying to save me from some crazy scorpion guy that was into poetry who wanted to kidnap me for this 'queen' person. He then got poisoned and we had to hurry to get here." At the widened pair of eyes, she quickly added, "he's okay though!"

The two militaries shared a look. Something passed between them before Winter stepped forward and asked, "where is he? We have some matters that appears needs to be discussed."

Ruby's once enthusiastic face was now marred in a frown. "Can't it wait? He's resting right now, he really did almost die, can't you wait until tomorrow?"

Winter seemed to want to press further, but Ironwood's hand stopped her. "Of course, it must have also been quite a trip for you. Please, do let him know to meet with us," he paused, considering something and then made a decision. "I also think you should come as well, seems he entrusted you with some very- valuable information."

Ruby realized what he was talking about and seemed to understand, her face taking a more serious expression. "Of course, we had originally planned to talk to the headmaster but-"

"I would recommend you wait. Qrow seemed to have mixed you up in this, and I highly suggest we gather before seeing Leo. There are some important things he needs to know, about the situation at hand and other matters."

"If you all are talking about what's going on out there, there is some stuff me and a friend found out. Things are getting very seriously crazy, and are about to get worse." Sun interrupted.

Ironwood pondered this for a moment, he didn't know what the hell Qrow was thinking getting kids mixed up in this, but these same kids have seen some horrible things. Things they still shouldn't have seen at their age, and knowing that there are worse things out there, he was hesitant in letting them in. But it appears that Branwen made that decision for him.

"Very well, then that settles it. I will wait for you tomorrow morning in room 3.212 at the main tower. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Off he walked with Winter at his side. Wiess didn't move and said, "I'll will meet up with you later Winter, I have some catching up to do."

Her sister gave her one glance, something seemed to pass between them just as it had with Ironwood earlier, but this time it seemed more- personal.

"Of course, you remember what room I'm at."

Silence passed between the three friends but soon Ruby's enthusiasm couldn't be contained. The two reunited friends talked as much as they could, the ex-heiress looking at Sun as if her seemed to be in the way of her telling Ruby something important.

"So, of you were with them, where are they now?" Weiss asked about the rest of Ruby's companions.

"Oh, they're at the dining hall... which I don't know the directions to... hey Sun, you're from around here right?" Ruby asked with a question in her voice.

Sun simply smiled, "eh clothes can wait, follow me ladies."

Exiting the building they were in, they made their way to the Dining Hall, all three of them finally calming down from meeting one unexpected person after another.

As they were nearing the building, they saw Nora, Ren, and Jaune talking to some girl. Nora currently drooling over something in the girl's hand. A weapon if Ruby were to guess. The girl's back was to them, so all they saw was a tan coat with twin tails with a pair of knee high brown boots. A familiar purple scarf was tied around one leg, and an even more familiar blonde hair was drifting along with the breeze. Jaune spotted the incoming group of newfound friends and called out.

"Ruby!" he shouted a bit enthusiastically. As soon as he did the blonde girl swiftly turned around.

"Ruby?" Yang spoke.

Ruby Rose, the fastest girl alive, froze. "Yang?" she whispered.

"Yang?" both Wiess and Sun exclaimed in surprise of another unexpected friend.

"Screw what I said earlier, she isn't going to freak out, her soul is going to leave her body. I'm sure of it." The monkey faunus muttered out loud.

Ruby's face shifted from surprised, to shock, to joy all at once. She took one step and then another. For the love of the Gods, she _walked_ towards the one person Sun would think she'd be the first to burst into petals to.

The two sisters met in the middle in a fierce hug, and what first seemed to be a beautiful sister reunion, soon started to look like attempted murder.

"Uhhh, Yang? I don't think your sister can breathe..."

Ruby's hands and feet were dangling dangerously still. It seemed though as Yang had heard Sun's comment and put her sister down, but kept her hands on her shoulders.

"Rubes, gosh I was so worried," her happy expressions then turned stern, "what were you thinking going off on your own! You're gonna get an earful from me young lady! And don't even get me started on what dad is gonna have to say."

The red head looked torn, "I know, I know, I shouldn't have left the way I did. I'm sorry! But it was something I had to do and I knew I couldn't ask you to come with me at the time because you needed time to heal and â€“ wait. Your arm!" The weapons geek soon realized that Nora hadn't been drooling at something in her hand, but at her hand. Arm.

Ruby then produced a high enough wattz smile, to blind. Her inner weapons geek came out. "No. Way..."

Yang flexed her bionic arm and responded with, "Oh, yeah. I got back into shape with dads help. I guess you could say I'm... armed and ready to go..." she smirked shamelessly.

This however seemed to brighten the girl in the red cape even more. Jumping up and nearly strangling her sister, "You're back, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Yes, it is very good to know your well." Wiess finally spoke up.

Yang's head turned and met ice blue in surprise. The last she heard from Weiss, her father had taken her back to Atlas. And from the was Sun had spoken, it wasn't by choice. She was delighted to know she found her sister and another of her teammates, a feeling of warmth started to fill her chest in happiness. She never though a few months back that she'd see all her team again. Well, almost all of them.

"Wiess!" Yang let go of her sister and strode up towards the heiress, immediately embracing her in a hug. The smaller girl seemed taken aback at first, but soon proceeded to wrap her arms around the taller and bustier teammate.

"Hi Yang, I'm so happy to know your back to your old self." She tightened her embrace, surprising the blonde, but she gladly returned the squeeze.

 _I can't ever go back to my old self,_ she thought _. But I'm okay._

"Okay, too tight. Enough! I didn't miss you that much to merge with you"

Yang chuckled, "Well, didn't know you rolled that way."

Weiss frowned for a bit, processing what she said and what Yang had responded, and soon her cheeks got a tinted color. "You brute! You know very well that's not what I meant! I swear to the Gods..."

The small group of people laughed, Yang placed her hands in front of her to try and appease the flustered girl while Ruby kept saying "What? I don't get it! I want in on the funny!"

More greetings and names were passed around, with Nora's "Nora!" soon bringing in old memories for the three members of team RWBY and JNPR. As they kept talking and catching up they soon started walking towards their original destination, meanwhile, Sun kept staring at the brawler in mild shock.

_Boy, I don't know how Blake is going to react to this. I just hope she's ready._

___________

Blake didn't know how to take the news. Yang was here. _She's here. What do I ... what will I ..._

She had been pacing back and forth on the hard-wooden floor near the bar part of the pub. They were all currently down stairs talking about the details, mainly Sun mentioning some somethings with Van while Blake had a mini freak out. At his return, he explained to them what had happened with Ironwood and Ruby's uncle. They had agreed to attend the meeting, knowing this was their opportunity.

Blake was going to have to risk showing herself, this was too important for her to miss. Van Dyke, however, seemed insistent in going as well.

Blake's mind was currently preoccupied to care at the moment, however. Her body froze at Sun's earlier statement:

"Oh, by the way, I saw Yang. She was there." He spoke softly.

"WhAt!? I thought you said you didn't hear any news about her!" At that point, Blake had risen from the seat she had been in, her second pair of ears nearly flattened in nervousness. "Is she going to be at the meeting? Oh, who am I kidding of course she is. Sun, what am I -

She was rambling, the cold breeze that came from the open window caused a cold sweat to run down her neck.

Sun, at seeing his usually level-headed friend's sudden frantic outburst, he grabbed her arm without moving from his seat.

"Hey, calm down. I didn't know. She literally had just gotten there after I did. I witnessed the whole team reunion, it was interesting to see the ice queen's frostbite turn into warm hugs." He attempted at calming her.

The dark-haired girl closer her eyes, breathing deeply, then out. She expected to meet up with her team at some point, she just didn't expect that to happen the very next day. She cursed her lack of social communication to make her so nervous at seeing them again. Should she hug them? Wave?

 _Oh Gods, I'm a mess._ Blake thought, her mind was going through the many possible scenarios that could happen at her team's reunion, most didn't do favors to her self-esteem.

"Blake? Hellooo?" Sun's voice cut through the feline's treacherous thoughts.

"Sorry, what?"

"What do you think? About Van Dyke coming with us? He seems to be very adamant about it."

Turning to the older man she finally focused her thoughts to the task at hand, even as her heart fluttered and her face felt sweaty from her nerves getting the best of her. _Gosh, I'm already a wreck and I haven't even seen them yet._

"Is there a particular reasoning on why you want to tag along? You don't exactly fit in to the environment, and your presence might... alter the situation." She asked.

"I just have a gut feeling. They tend to be right, I made the mistake of not listening to it once, it cost me dearly. I won't let that happen again." He responded vaguely.

Blake pondered what he said for a moment, her thoughts going to what he had said about her daughter. She then she asked, "did my father get in contact with you somehow?"

He didn't respond immediately, but that alone answered her question. "You're more observant than I give you credit for. But yes, he asked me to look out for you." Blake face shifted at the confirmation. That's why he came along the ride even though he thought this whole ordeal was a waste of time. At seeing Blake's expression shift, Van added "just a father waning to look out for his daughter, can you blame him?"

Blake's lips had been pressed to form a straight line, but one side tilted slightly upward. "I was going to have you come anyway," seeing Sun's confused face, she added, "the General won't have much confidence on a bunch of nineteen-year olds. They'll be hesitant in entrusting us with this kind of situation. Having someone like Van will help back us up, show them that they have others to rely on."

"Okay, I see your point. Sooo... tomorrow bright and early?"

"Yes," Blake answered quite hesitantly.

Wrapping everything up they all headed for some rest. And as the cat faunus ascended the stairs all that passed through her mind was, _I just hope me running around in the daylight won't attract any unwanted attention. I need as much energy as possible to face the friend I failed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RTX was the bomb! Loved it! Totally going next year! I cosplayed for the first time as Blake and met some great people like MurderofBirds (a youtube reactor that concentrates heavily on RWBY), some cosplayers like Kisses Cosplay who cosplayed as Yang and, get this. When I took a picture with her she asked be if I was into Bumbleby. When I said yes, she proceeded to sing me the song BMBLB. Best. Day. Ever.


	8. The Awaited Reunion Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilia. Then the meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo. College happened. Then I saw the premiere of RWBY Vol. 5 in theaters...... then this happened. I said screw it, my report is due midnight anyway. thus why this isn't long.

Blake being nervous didn't even begin to cover it. She was a mess internally. In the exterior however, Sun thought she seemed to be doing okay.

Blake, Sun, and Van Dyke were about 10 minutes away from reaching Haven Academy. They had been walking for about 5 minutes when Van broke the silence.

"So, how long are we going to pretend we don't notice them?" he asked.

"Huh?" was Sun's response.

"So you noticed them too, I was waiting till we reached a less habited location."

"Wait, what?" Sun asked, completely lost.

Without changing expression or moving her face she responded, "we've been followed for like the past 3 minutes. I really hoped we didn't have to start something so soon."

"What do you suggest we do? They know where you are now and where you're headed."

Blake pondered that for a second and said, "there are three of them“

"How do you know-“

"-I say we split up" she cut Sun off.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I have a feeling I know who one of them is, I want to get her alone."

Sun turned to her and asked, "your chameleon friend?" Blake nods. "Are you sure? Last time she didn't seem to hesitate."

"She didn't hesitate to attack _you_. She never once aimed her weapon at me. Let me talk to her alone."

Ilia was the closest thing she had to a friend back in the White Fang days, and although they might have drifted apart due to their separate thought of ideals, she had plenty opportunities to rat her out to Adam. Sounds like she brought some company this time, but Blake still hoped she could get through to her.

"Alright, but as soon as I'm done with my guy I'm heading your way," Sun spoke up before making a right turn into an alleyway. After a few second her ears caught movement from above head that way as well. _They're going for it. Ilia knows what I'm trying to do._

"You sure you can trust her," Van asked, keeping step beside her.

"Not entirely, but she's had a chance to rat me out back at Menagerie. Nothing's happened yet."

"Maybe her mission is to keep an eye on you, not intervene." He added.

"....," Blake stayed silent. It had crossed her mind. But Ilia was telling Blake to turn back and leave Menagerie, she doubted that was part of her job description.

With that, Van Dyke took a left turn, followed by a second shadow. Blake looked straight ahead and saw that the town started to end, going into a more run down and abandoned section. She kept on walking until she heard her tracker speed up to her right on the roof tops, then hop down in an alley way ahead of the feline. Blake took the bait and turned right.

"You know Blake, when I said leave Menagerie I didn't exactly mean go straight to the wolf's den." Ilia spoke.

"....what are you doing Ilia?"

"Nothing you say will make me give you information, Blake."

"No. I mean, what are you still doing with _them_. You know what they've done, what they plan to do, yet you're still following them. Why?" Blake needed to hear a straight answer, needed to know if there was hesitation in her voice. Anything that can give her an indication of swaying her.

"There's no other way, Blake. This is the only way that they'll listen to us."

"your wrong, this will just make things worse. You're proving to them that faunus really are savage animals and terrorists. Ilia please, think about this. don't go down this road. Because you know very well what the result will be."

The chameleon faunus still had her mask covering her face, so Blake was unsure if her words were getting through to her.

"Even if I did decide to stop. There is no going back. Your either with the White Fang or against them. And you know very well what happens if you're against them. It's a wonder your still alive, Adam isn't well known for being lenient."

"fight. You can fight against them Ilia! You cant let your fear stop you!

"and what good did that do to you Blake? Huh? Last I heard one of your friends suffered the consequences. Whatever happened to her anyway?"

Silence.

"oh, let me guess. You left, didn't you?" The White Fang member removed her mask with her left hand carefully, making sure to have her weapon ready with her right at any moment's notice. "Do you care for them?" she asked, her light blue eyes staring right through her.

"More than I ever thought I could."

"Yet you're here. You really are a glutton for punishment."

Nothing else was said. Ilia placed her mask back on her face, retreating slowly. "turn back, its not too late yet. Those two were newbies, they didn't know who you were. I wont tell them anything."

Blake's face was determined. Although it wavered slightly at her teams mentioning. "No. your going to have to make me."

Ilia smiled sadly, "I know."

A rumbling of footsteps soon reached Blake's ears, causing them to flicker towards the noise. Appears that the fighting is over.

Ilia seemed to have seen her ears move and realized it was time to leave. Because she turned and leaped into the ledge of a window to reach the roof, pausing before leaving the feline's sight.

Blake hadn't moved, she was letting her leave without a fight. Again. But something told her that this would probably be the last.

_**_BACK AT HAVEN ACADEMY_** _

Yang was leaning against the wall opposite of the door, next to a large window that depicted a beautiful view of the Haven Academy school yard. She had her arms crossed and one leg up on the wall. Ruby, Weiss, team SSSN (minus their leader), and the remnants of team JNPR were sitting and standing idly on the wall adjacent to her, opposite of the large wooden desk where General Ironwood sat, Winter at his right side with an uptight posture while Qrow was to his left, leaning his weight on the desk in an very non-professional manner, nearly sitting on it.

"Yang, put your foot down! Have some manners." Weiss exclaimed. "Why don't you sit down?"

"Sorry princess, but unlike you guys I've been traveling on a bike for weeks. I love Bumblebee but my ass hurts, give me a break." She defended.

"Yaaaaang! Language!" Ruby nearly whined in exasperation.

"Honestly," Weiss huffed. "Show some decency, you're in the presence of the General of the Atlesian army and his second in command. Use proper language."

"Hey, I'm here too kid," Qrow added with feigned annoyance.

"Uncle Qrow, be nice. It took me a whole year to get her to warm up to me, she's not ready for your jokes.... or stories." Ruby spoke up.

Yang chuckled at that. "You got that right. We finally melted the ice queen's heart, turns out she's a snowflake on the inside."

"Ugh, Yang. Please, don't start." Weiss implored.

"Yeah," Qrow drawled, "because I hate to break it to you, but the ice queen bit is used. And I don't know about her being a snowflake yet, maybe deep, deep, deep inside. If you squint and turn your head sideways... and blink fast a few times."

Ruby and Yang chuckled at that, while Weiss covered her mouth with her hand, coughing to cover it up. And while Qrow had an indifferent expression, Ironwood only sighed, rubbing his temples with his flesh hand. Winter remained still as a statue, though Weiss could swear that her sister's left eye twitched ever so slightly.

"So, we're here for what exactly?" Jaune spoke up for the first time. "Shouldn't we be, I don't know, heading to the headmaster or something?"

"Old James here says he's got something to say along with the Ice Queen 1.0. Something we should know about before heading to Leo. And what I tell you about stressing me out? Quit making tracks on the floor and sit-down kid."

Jaune, who had been pacing back and forth, stopped in his tracks and gave him a hard stare, but did as he asked.

"...and," Ruby added. "we're waiting for Sun. Says he's actually got information about what's going on too."

"Sun? How? Shouldn't he be getting ready to attend classes? They start soon don't they?" Yang asked.

"He actually just got back to Mistral, said he had something to do like a few months back." Neptune spoke up.

"Oh. Without you guys? Where'd he go?"

"I don't know, but it seemed important. We can't really stop him either way."

A few moments later a knock sounded on the door. Jaune stood up almost instantly, aching to get moving again. Opening the door revealed a misshapen looking monkey faunus.

Upon entering he greeted everyone, then looked up and saw Yang, who nodded in greeting. He however seemed slightly concerned, but nodded back in response.

"Sorry I'm late, we ran into some trouble on our way here." He spoke, raking his hand through his hair. He had sweat on his brow and seemed slightly out of breath. And under closer inspection his clothes seemed worn, battle worn to be precise.

"Did you seriously start a fight in a single day that you're back?" Neptune asked with exasperation in his voice.

"Yeah. Well no. I didn't but someone else did, but I kinda got involved too. So... I guess it's a yes." he rambled.

"We?" Yang asked.

"Huh?"

"You said 'we' ran into some trouble, your team is here, who're you referring to?"

"Uuuhh.... Well, I guess now is a better time than any. I ran into someone" cough "on my, umm, little road trip. Met quite the group of people too, but she'll explain that better than I can. You guys coming in?"

Yang, along with the rest of the young students, looked at him with confusion and turned their heads toward the open door. Soon, their confusion was replaced with gasps and other sounds of surprise at the newcomers. The first person to walk in was a huge man that made Ironwood look small, he had scales on his face with the sternest expression you could imagine. His eyes scanned the room, as if to look for potential danger, resting his eyes on the Schnee's a little longer than necessary. The sounds of surprise weren't towards him however, but towards the smaller woman at his side.

Blake Belladonna had entered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. College is kicking my ass. I even put off my other fic to do this one. The hype is real. I'll try uploading every weekend, but they wont be long if I do. We'll see.


	9. The Awaited Reunion Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone learns about all the fucked up things in the world. And, 'the talk.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry its a bit late, it ended up being longer than I thought... like... 27 pages long on Microsoft Words long... so yeah. long chapter this time. Because it's so long I had a hard time editing, if you do find mistakes please let me know. Otherwise, enjoy and let me know what you think!
> 
> Update 12/02/17: I just realized after uploading that there is a bunch of space between each paragraph. ugh. I don't like that. I see if I can fix it. If you don't mind it keep reading, if you do, then i suggest going to fanfiction where it's much easier to edit stuff. >>> https://www.fanfiction.net/~qtrlbsceci

 

"Sorry I’m late, we ran into some trouble on our way here." He spoke, raking his hand through his hair. He had sweat on his brow and seemed slightly out of breath. And under closer inspection his clothes seemed worn, battle worn to be precise.

 

"Did you seriously start a fight in a single day that you’re back?" Neptune asked with exasperation in his voice.

 

"Yeah. Well no. I didn’t but someone else did, but I kinda got involved too. So… I guess it’s a yes." he rambled.

 

"We?" Yang asked.

 

"Huh?"

 

"You said 'we' ran into some trouble, your team is here, who're you referring to?"

 

"Uuuhh…. Well, I guess now is a better time than any. I ran into someone" cough "on my, umm, little road trip. Met quite the group of people too, but she'll explain that better than I can. You guys coming in?"

 

Yang, along with the rest of the young students, looked at him with confusion and turned their heads toward the open door. Soon, their confusion was replaced with gasps and other sounds of surprise at the newcomers. The first person to walk in was a huge man that made Ironwood look small, he had scales on his face with the sternest expression you could imagine. His eyes scanned the room, as if to look for potential danger, resting his eyes on the Schnee's a little longer than necessary. The sounds of surprise weren’t towards him however, but towards the smaller woman at his side.

 

Blake Belladonna had entered.

 

Silence filled the air, you could almost hear a pin drop. The first person to move was Ruby, or well, floated really. Because one moment she was sitting next to Weiss, and the next a trail of rose petals left her wake as she soon appeared in front of Blake who stumbled back a few steps from the force of the hug. She caught her footing after shaking out of her initial surprise, clearly the last thing she was expecting were hugs.

 

"Blake!!! It's so good to see youu! Where have you been?! But most importantly… TEAM RWBY IS BACK TOGETHER!!"

 

Blake's eyes were widened, Ruby’s hug was quick but fierce, the faunus recovering too late to return the hug. The shorter girl must have been mindful that Blake wasn’t much for physical contact, it was a bit touching that she remembered that, really. She did, however, raise her hand and placed it on top of Ruby's head, ruffling her hair. A bit un-Blake-like, if Ruby's expression was anything to go by, but still very much welcome.

 

_ She's taller _ , Blake thought. _And she filled out a little too, I’m glad that she's still got some spirit left in her._

 

Ruby smiled, lacking a bit of the usual sparkle, but regarding what they all went through, it was still something.

 

Retracting her hand, Blake's gaze shifted towards Weiss, who during the exchange, walked up with her usual poise and natural beauty, unlike Ruby's sudden excitement. She stood next to Ruby and truly smiled for the second time after meeting up with her sister and her team.

 

"You sure took your time Belladonna," a pause, "I'm so glad you’re here." Her posture broke and she threw herself towards her teammate, rivaling Ruby's. Blake didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around the slightly shorter girl, catching a small scent of fresh snow.

 

The last member of her team however, froze at the same time her heart stopped when the two figures appeared in the doorway. She was forced to put her foot down to keep her balance lest he tip over and fall from the sudden scene unfolding before her.

 

Her crossed arms were soon down at her sides, fists closing and opening. But otherwise she didn’t move. Her eyes had widened when they became locked in an amber gaze while still locked in the Ice Princess’ arms. Surprise overrode her for the first few seconds. She couldn’t believe her eyes, after nearly a year of terrible thoughts and nightmares mixed with her PTSD, the last thing she hoped to find during her trip was her partner.

 

Or, well, that was a lie.

 

It was impossible _not_ to think about her. And now, all those thoughts and feelings came rushing forward at once, overriding her ability to speak. Her mouth opening slightly, just to close back up again.

 

She wasn’t sure how she felt right now. The blonde knew she held resentment towards her at first after The Fall of Beacon. Felt nothing but pain and anger of someone whom she's confided in her mother's abandonment decided to just up and leave her. She wanted to hate her, but found that he couldn’t. All she felt was pain, pain of betrayal. She trusted her, she was her partner. She was supposed to have her back. But, after the first few months, she stopped feeling anything. It was an odd phase for her. She didn’t care about anything, she just wanted to be left alone in bed and feel nothing. She wasn’t mad, she wasn’t scared, she wasn’t… anything.

 

Her father got her out of that funk however. The day he first brought that arm to her house, it did something. She might not have worn it right away, but she always sneaked a glance every so often.

 

Soon enough however, she started questioning everything. Why did Blake leave? Who was responsible for the attack at Beacon? Where was Ruby? Was she okay? Were Weiss and Blake okay?

 

She felt like she was being swallowed whole by a pit of darkness, nothing seemed to motivate her. She had her father, sure, but she needed her team. Her friends. Her sister. Her partner.

 

Until finally, she decided to do something about it. Then her training with her father started. All she could focus on was getting back in shape to find her sister, her scattered letters here and there edging her on.

 

But now, seeing her partner again so soon and out of the blue had her feeling… anger and betrayal mixed with relief? Hell, she didn’t know anymore. One thing that was definite, they needed to talk. Soon.

 

Yang gave Blake a onceover. Her outfit changed along with her own, it suited her figure. Her usual black vest over a white shirt was replaced with a black strappy crop top beneath a long white twin tailed coat, she almost smiled at their similarities in style. Almost.

 

What really drew her gaze were those thigh high dark purple boots, on anyone it would look over kill, but she somehow made it work deliciously well. Her black and white color scheme might not have changed much, but it always made Yang beam whenever Blake would show a splash of color. Purple always making an appearance, as subtle as it was.

 

The brawler’s quick observation didn’t take long, she did however pause as she took in Blake’s bare toned front. As impressive as her flexible figure was, what drew Yang’s gaze was the scarred tissue that looked misplaced in such a gorgeous figure.

 

Red.

 

Red was all Yang saw next.

 

A red sword retracting from that very spot.

 

Red gore oozing out.

 

Pain.

 

Then nothing but darkness.

 

Yang felt her breathing pick up pace the slightest bit. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. Then let it out slowly, opening her eyes once again. _Okay,_ _it’s getting easier_ , she thought, _no shaking this time._

 

Looking back towards her partner, she didn’t seem that surprised to see her _. Sun must have told her_ , she thought. Although Blake did an excellent job in masking her emotions, Yang was one of the few people that could read her like a book. And at the moment she looked… afraid?

 

_ Wait,  _ Yang thought after a few moments, _so they’ve been… together, this whole time?_ The blonde didn’t know how to feel about that. Blake leaves her behind but decides to go off with Sun? But then again…Sun was the one who told Yang she left. Did they meet recently? _Ugh. I don’t know what’s going on, I could reeeeeally use a strawberry sunrise right now._

 

Her partner wasn’t faring much better.

 

As soon as amber eyes met lilac, it took all of Blake’s willpower to keep her composure. She succeeded in masking her inner turmoil, mostly since she knew there was a possibility of seeing Yang here, and she had her meltdown with Sun the day prior. But seeing her in person terrified her more that she thought it would. _Calm down, calm down, calm down_ , she chanted inside her head. What really got her heart pounding viciously was when she saw her eyes flare red the slightest bit, almost unnoticeable. Yang closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again they were back to their usual lilac.

 

Blake let go of Weiss, who stepped aside and took her spot next to Ruby, who stared intently and the Black and Yellow duo.

 

That brief exchange happened in a matter of seconds, but to the pair it felt like hours. Everyone else in the room seemed to be waiting for them to greet each other, and Yang for once felt an overbearing sense of social pressure. Their confrontation will have to wait, at least until they could talk alone _, if she doesn’t leave again that is,_ Yang thought. Not surprised to the slight bitterness she felt.

 

“Hey,” she finally voiced to her amber-eyed partner. “Glad to know you’re alive.” The tone in her voice made it sound more like a statement, however.

 

Blake snapped out of whatever haze she was on. “Good to know you’re up and about.” _Really? Gosh, I’m the worst._

 

“Right.”

 

Blakes lips pressed to a thin line, but said nothing _. Not now._

 

The blonde’s gaze drifted north of amber eyes, resting on the pair of ears now free of the black bow that usually covered them. Her eyes widened slightly, never have before seen them. Blake might have come out to her team, but that didn’t mean she felt okay with removing her bow in the dorm. Call it paranoia if you will. Yang tried her best to help her feel comfortable, but the girl never budged.

 

Seeing them now got Yang to release a small portion of the bitterness she felt, pride and relief filled that small void. Easing her stern face, a bit, seeing those adorable feline ears drift back the slightest bit, almost as if…

 

Yang’s eyes widened a bit, realizing that Blake’s ears now expressed more that her face. _Well, that’s new._

 

“ – Well, it looks like we are all finally here.” Ironwood spoke up, breaking the awkward silence. “and then some..” he added looking at the large man next to Blake.

 

Blake stepped fully inside the room and leaned her back against the wall near the door. Van taking position next to her. “This is Van Dyke, a friend of mine that’s been helping me out.”

 

Ironwood nodded in response, a bit uncertain at revealing such crucial information to a stranger. but continued.

 

“It appears as though Qrow here has chosen to divulge valuable information to some of you without prior consent…” pausing to shoot said person a stern glare that was easily shrugged off, he continues once again, “I guess we should be more… thorough with all this information...”

 

* * *

 

 

“Okay, let me get this straight. Some dangerous Salem person is after four relics that each school is hiding and wield tremendous power. To do so they need to also get ahold of the four maidens who, happen to be for real, and also wield unimaginable power because they are the only ones that can get to the relics. Which in turn explains why Beacon fell trying to protect it and why Haven is next…?” Sun finally breathed.

 

“Simply speaking, yes.” Responded Qrow.

 

“But why?” asked Weiss. “What is her motive?”

 

Yang tuned the conversation out and seemed to be out of it, concern filling her face when they talked about Ruby’s attempt at being kidnapped. _Over my dead body_ , she thought protectively.

 

“We don’t know, but with all that power in her hands it’s just not a good idea to let that happen. Destruction is all that her plan does for us.” Qrow continued the conversation. Yang snapped out of her inner thoughts when her partner spoke up for the first time since their meeting.

 

“Salem. As in the Salem Witch Trials?” Blake asked inquisitively.

 

“You know who she is?” Qrow raised an eyebrow.

 

“I’ve read of her. I just vaguely recall something about a very powerful witch that was said she could control Grimm…”

 

The general, Winter and Qrow shared a knowing look.

 

“… What?! How would you know that?” Asked Sun

 

“Like I said, I read it once a long time ago. I had a collection of very old books that dated back before the Great War. But… you don’t think it’s the same person, do you?”

 

Qrow and Ironwood exchanged another look. “It’s very possible, do you have this book by any chance? I’m incredibly surprised I haven’t heard of that story being written…” The General stated.

 

“… It’s actually one of a kind… a family heirloom. Is been passed down for generations.”

 

“And why would your family be in the possession of such book?”

 

“…I don’t know.”

 

“Okay, we're derailing here. So this Salem person, the maidens power, would the White Fang be in on this too?”

 

“That would make more sense,” Blake thought out loud.

 

Sun looked at her incredulously, “how the hell does _any_ of this make sense?!”

 

Blake’s face was one of realization, “the reason why the White Fang aided in the Fall of Beacon, the last thing they’d ever do is side with humans. Unless they ended up being stronger than they were..”

 

“You mean to say that the organization thought of them as suitable allies? Having dangerous people at their side to help further their repulsive cause?” was Winter Schnee’s answer.

 

At her response, Blake’s expression soon turned into a frown. “If that’s what you think of the organization then I’m sorry to hear that someone with such high status as you don’t have all the facts.” Winter’s eyes narrowed at the same time Qrow whistled.

 

“Who do yo –

 

“Explain,” Ironwood interrupted.

 

Blake glanced over to him and further clarified her thinking, now having everyone’s attention. “Just like the military, the White Fang isn’t just a group of people bunched together following orders and going through with them without thinking. They have branches throughout Remnant, each branch is stationed in a Kingdom. Although the leader is Sienna Kahn, she chooses select few to lead their pertaining branch, you might call them high ranking members. There is a lot organization that goes into this but although every member has the same goal, they all have different ideas on how to go about them. The Vale branch was the only one that took part in attacking Beacon, but I’m sure that they’ve gained more followers since then.”

 

“So, you’re saying that this, Sienna Kahn, has nothing to do with all the violence that started?” asked Jaune.

 

“No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying that she wasn’t behind the decision to attack Beacon, the person responsible was the leader of the Vale branch…”

 

“Adam Taurus.” Yang stated, looking straight at Blake.

 

“… Yes,” she confirmed, struggling to make eye contact. “I’m sure Sienna Kahn has something to do with this one way or another, but they must have different ways of seeing things because _he_ is taking matters in his own hands.”

 

“What do you mean…” Yang asked with a low tone in her voice.

 

The faunus glanced away and shared a look with Sun, who nodded. Prompting her. “It’s a fact that the White Fang plans to attack Haven Academy,” The head of the General perked up at this information.

 

“You have proof of this?”

 

Blake nodded. “Yes, I didn’t know the reason why until now, but I’m sure that before all this plan to bring down the academy and the tower, he plans to overthrow Sienna Kahn from leadership.”

 

Silence filled the room at the news………….

 

“And how exactly do you know all of this?” asked Winter once again, with steeled knowing eyes.

 

“Winter…” Weiss said in a careful yet warning tone. Clearly her sister wasn’t very fond of someone who took part with the organization.

 

Ignoring her younger sister, she pressed on, “this is very detailed information you're giving us, mind telling us how exactly you’ve obtained it?” the not to subtle question made it clear that she thought Blake might still be in league with them.

 

“I’m starting to see the Schnee resemblance on _her_ …I like your friend though,” muttered Van Dyke low enough that if Blake wasn’t born with a second set of ears, she wouldn’t have heard him. She knew he was just trying to get her to relax against Winter Schnee’s apparent onslaught of hidden yet noticeable accusations. It worked because she let out a small huff of breath to hide the surprised laugh that almost escaped.

 

The small display between the feline and the reptilian faunus did not go unnoticed.

 

“I was once part of the White Fang,” she admitted. It wasn’t a surprise to her friends or her team. And although the three grown ups did not know that at the beginning, she knew they guessed it giving the information she had. Winter’s knowing glance just further proved that they already knew, she just wanted her admission.

 

“And what should stop me from arresting you right at this very moment. We can just take you in and who knows, maybe even use you as leverage against them.

 

It was at this point that most of her friends in the room stood up and stared defiantly at the woman, even Weiss.

 

“We’re not going to let you do that,” she stood up to her older sister. Even Yang had straightened from her slack posture leaning against the wall and took a step next to Weiss, defending the faunus.

 

Qrow let out a heartfelt breath of amusement while Ironwood still had that same stagnant expression throughout the exchange. Winter on the other hand seemed slightly surprised at the reaction from the rest of the room. It appears she didn’t think that everyone in the room already knew about her affiliation with the terrorist group.

 

“…because,” Blake answered her question, “I’m a traitor to them, the only reason they’d want me would be to kill me. They don’t answer lightly to traitors…it’s a surprise I’m still alive really.” She muttered that last bit. Yang and Wiess who were close to her probably overheard her, “after the Fall of Beacon I was being followed, the White Fang was looking for me. So, I left to shake them off

 

This caught the attention of Yang, who’s head rose up sharply. She narrowed her eyes and payed close attention to her partner.

 

“It took me a while, but I was able to finally lose them a while back. Returning to Vale wasn’t an option because that’s where they were stationed, so… I left to where I knew I’d be safe. Home. In Menagerie. I hadn’t been there in years, but I knew that the White Fang head of operations was stationed here in Mystral, Menagerie shouldn’t have been a problem. But I was wrong, they must have had people in Menagerie too because I eventually caught a spy who’d been following me once I arrived. She’s the one I got the information from after Sun and I confronted her.”

 

“And why would we care who the leader is. That’s of no concern to us. Keeping the relic safe and stopping Salem is.” Winter continued.

 

“It should be, because the reason you haven’t been attacked already is thanks to Sienna. She might have… _forceful_ ideals. But she will only push when she is shoved regarding faunus rights. Adam? He won’t sit idly. He’ll attack and destroy anything or anyone that gets in his way, faunus or not. I don’t know what he’s doing, but he’s not pushing for faunus rights. If he overthrows Sienna, things will just get a whole lot worse. He’ll spread that way of thinking to everyone in the organization. And _that_ should concern you.”

 

Ironwood was still silent, taking all of this in.

 

“Hey, your that Belladonna girl right? Blake Belladonna?” asked Qrow momentarily changing the subject.

 

“Yes.” Blake answered almost questionably.

 

“Do you happen to be related to a… Ghira? Was it?”

 

Blake stiffened at the mention of her father. The only reason someone that wasn’t faunus knew her father would be as the previous leader of the White Fang, not the loving chieftain of Menagerie. The last thing she needed was for them to think lowly of her father’s actions in the White Fang.

 

“…Yes,” she replied cautiously. Ready to jump in and defend her father’s image as a peaceful leader.

 

But it appears that wasn’t necessary, because Yang and Ruby’s uncle did something she never saw him do. He smiled. Not a smirk, or forced tilt to his lips. But a genuine smile.

 

“I don’t know how I didn’t make the connection before. You have his drive.”

 

Blake relaxed seeing that he wouldn’t talk ill of him while the rest of her team looked confused. Save for Sun who knew her father. For all the rest of her team knew, they probably thought she had no family. Not once did she speak of them for reasons that are now way past behind her.

 

“You know him?”

 

“Met him once when he was still in position, very big guy. Believe it or not, you got nothing on him Jimmy –

 

“ – General,” Winter corrected.

 

Ignoring her he continued, “I didn’t know his last name, so I didn’t make the connection, until now. You resembled some of his leadership. You look just like your mother, though.”

 

Everyone in the room was now just lost. Her team in particular.

 

“…wait, you’ve met Blake’s parents? Wow. Small world! Are they hunters too? Oh! Did you meet them in a mission?!” Ruby asked with enthusiasm.

 

Looking over at Blake, he raised an eyebrow. “They don’t know?”

 

“… They know my past with the White Fang, but not that far back.” She answered, shifting almost uncomfortably from her position on the wall.

 

“Know what?” asked Yang. _What else hasn’t she told us?_

 

Blake sighed, knowing she should be the one to tell them. “The White Fang has an infamous history with traitors. The Belladonna name now has a target on its back, and they wouldn’t go through the trouble in crossing all of Remnant if they weren’t important.”

 

“Important?” questioned Weiss. “In what way?”

 

“I mentioned to you once that I was practically raised in the White Fang. I meant that literally. My father… he was once the High Leader of the organization.”

 

Widened eyes and gasps of whoa were heard around the room.

 

“Now that I think about it, wouldn’t that make you a Princess like Ice Queen over here?” Joked Sun.

 

“ – Hey!”

 

“I mean, he’s pretty much the big boss for Menagerie, right?”

 

Blake closed her eyes and counted to three before saying in a warning tone, “it’s almost like you want to get slapped again, Sun.”

 

“…I never spoke.” He retreated, unconsciously raising his hand to touch his cheek.

 

_ Slapped huh? That must have been interesting to see, _ thought Yang. Feeling slight satisfaction upon hearing that. Unbeknownst to her, jealousy started to make an appearance within her. Knowing that Blake left her and ran off with Sun of all people, made the inside of her stomach churn in disappointment and jealousy. Similar to that time of the dance back at Beacon. _Dammit now is not the time to be feeling like this._

 

“Soo, you’re the daughter of this Sienna person?” Yang asked, interrupting the dialog between Blake and Sun. _Was that the reason she didn’t talk about her family?_

 

“What? No! I – Sorry, I should have explained myself correctly. My father was leader before Sienna Kahn, before the change to a more, ‘extreme philosophy.’

 

“Hmpf. That’s putting it lightly.” Answered Weiss, reminiscent to the time Blake herself responded similarly back when they were shadowing Dr. Oobleck.

 

“He stepped down when Sienna started to get more followers on her ideals. He’d rather not take part in it and became chieftain of Menagerie.”

 

“And then you came to Beacon?” Asked Yang.

 

“… Eventually, yes.” She answered, omitting that she stayed with the White Fang for 5 years after. Images of the people she’d interrogated, bloody and gasping, pleading for their lives flashed before her eyes. Her expression turned sour at the reminder, but said nothing.

 

Yang noticed her change in demeanor, but didn’t voice it. Instead she found herself glancing up at her feline appendages, that she noticed twitched a few times. Almost making her look uncomfortable with the subject _. She’s leaving stuff out, again_ … she thought. She considered in asking her in the future, but it would all depend on how their talk would go, if she bothered to stay that is.

 

“So, going back to the subject, why aren’t we talking with the headmaster right now? Shouldn’t he be in on this?” asked Jaune.

 

“I don’t trust Leo to take care of this. Winter has been observing his movements and judging from her reports, it seems as though he’s purposely leaving the door wide open for an attack to come barging in.

 

“What do you mean?” Asked Qrow.

 

“The relic has been unguarded this whole time. Still is.”

 

“What!” he exclaimed. “…the hell is he thinking…” Qrow muttered.

 

“I don’t have proof of this, and I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I there is a possibility he might be in league with Salem.”

 

“You can’t be serious. He might not be gutsy, but he’s not cowardly enough to side with _her_.

 

“I don’t know Qrow, all I _do_ know is that the reports show that he’s trying to let someone in. Maybe he’s being manipulated.”

 

Heavy silence filled the room at what their next plan of action will be, when Qrow finally spoke up. “Well, they can’t really do anything without the spring maiden. So maybe that’s where they’re headed. We should reach her before they do.” Qrow suggested.

 

“But we don’t know where she is.”

 

“I might have a… general idea….

 

Ironwood’s head turn sharply to his left. So fast you’d think he’d get whiplash, “you _WHAT_? Since when? How? Where?” he demanded standing from his seat.

 

“It’s not exactly good news. After the spring maiden ran off, she was picked up by bandits.” He paused, “specifically, the Branwen tribe.”

 

“…… what?” was Yang’s response. Her face was marred in confusion. “My mom?” Her arms fell limply to her sides, she was completely taken aback.

 

Blake’s ears were up and attentive. What little she knew of Yang’s mother, she was aware of Yang’s hunger for an answer. But knowing that she was part of a bandit tribe, was it a good idea?

 

“Yes. She has the spring maiden, and she won’t let her go so easily.” Locking his eyes on Yang he added, “I told you she was dangerous.”

 

Ironwood interrupted Yang’s inner turmoil and addressed Qrow again, “and then what? I mean, sure we’re quite a few but she has a whole tribe! How are we supposed to win against that _and_ a maiden? I have no doubt she has had plenty of time to hone her skills.”

 

Qrow leaned back against the desk again, thinking “well, we don’t technically have to win, just get the spring maiden to come with us.

 

“Yeah, who could have left them at any moment she wanted. I doubt she’ll just kindly follow us. Your sister would have, without a doubt, planted her mind with false information about what’s going on, or worse yet, adapter her way of thinking.

 

A few moments of silence passed, everyone trapped in their own thoughts.

 

Ruby spoke up this time “We can try to get her alone, talk to her, while some of us keeps them all busy.”

 

“There really is nothing else we can do. Unless someone manages to change Raven’s way of thinking, get her to side with us.” Jaune agreed with Ruby.

 

Yang furrowed her eyes, deep in thought. This was a lot information to mull over. First meeting her sister and Weiss, learning that fairytales are real, learning what her mother has been doing…seeing Blake...

 

“What if I… talk to her?” Yang spoke out loud. All eyes turned towards her, but her uncle was the one to speak up.

 

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea kiddo, you might be her kid, but she won't change just for you.”

 

Yang glanced away

 

“There’s not much we can do aside from trying to change Raven’s mind,” Ironwood spoke up again. “It’s a long shot, sure, but it’s all we’ve got. We don’t want Spring to be held captive against her will, that’s just a disaster waiting to happen. Raven seems to have her in the palm of her hand, however. Changing _her_ mind would be our best course of action.” He glanced over to Yang, “and who knows, maybe Ms. Xiao Long can change her mind.”

 

Qrow sighed, rubbing both his hands down across his tired face. “I’m telling you, all she cares about is the survival of her tribe,” looking over to Yang, he added, “and she might have saved your ass that one time, but I told you she wouldn’t intervene again.” He looked down at her arm, emphasizing his point.

 

Blake followed his line of sight. She had tried very hard not to stare at it fearing how Yang would react. But taking advantage that her attention is elsewhere, she took a peek. Where her arm used to be now lies a black and yellow synthetic arm, her fingerless gloves and zipper gauntlets obscured most of the view, but the metal still gleamed against the light.

 

Blake bit the inside of her cheek as regret coursed through her. Pain soon followed as she recalled the events from that night. The fear that froze her in place, the adrenaline that helped her get through the physical pain to carry her partner to safety. Hell, for the first few months that she was running from the White Fang she had trouble keeping her feelings stable, Grimm making an appearance way too often. And with her wounds it just added the amount of exhaustion and sleepless nights she went through.

 

“Well, how about we leave her no choice?” Ironwood suggested.

 

“What do you mean,” Qrow asked, taking a flask from a pocket inside his coat. Skepticism in his voice.

 

“Well, how about we tell her that her tribe is being targeted by Salem and her crew? She does have the Spring maiden, and judging from Cinder’s success in obtaining Fall, its only logical they target another maiden.” He reasoned.

 

“And if that doesn’t work?” He took a sip.

 

“Well, how about we talk to Leo and tell him where the Spring maiden is? If I’m right and he is siding with Salem, they’ll show and charge at Raven’s base camp. And she won’t have a choice, either way we would have gained something.”

 

Qrow must have been surprised by the General’s plan, because he soon started coughing slightly.

 

“What?! That plan can go wrong in so many ways,” Qrow raised his voice incredulously. “And don’t forget Cinder is a maiden, Salem’s solders aren’t exactly all talk either. I’d know.” He added.

 

Ruby, who was silently observing the conversation like the rest of her friends, frowned at that. Now realizing that it was her fault that her uncle was hurt, the reason he didn’t want her close was because he was afraid of what his semblance would cause.

 

“We get Raven on our side, we’ll also have a maiden on ours.”

 

“And if she decided Salem will help ensure her tribe’s survival? I don’t consider her that stupid, but I also wouldn’t be surprised.” He proclaimed in a low voice. “What then?”

 

The general sat back down and leaned his elbows on the wooden desk, resting his chin on his intertwined fingers. “Lets hope it doesn’t come to that. But if they are looking for the maiden, its just a matter of time. The only thing we’d be doing is expedite the process. Besides, you have a better idea?”

 

No response came from anybody.

 

“It’s settled. The sooner we head out, the better. We’ll go over this in more detail later on, I’m sure this has been overwhelming for all of you.”

 

“Understatement of the year,” Sun muttered.

 

“One last thing. Miss Belladonna?” Blake jerked her head up at the mention of her name.

 

“I know I am in no position to ask you of this, but, is there any possible way that you can somehow gain intel through the White Fang? I know you aren’t very highly regarded now, but you seemed to have a high position in that organization given your past. Is there a possibility that you can… return?” The General aske curiously.

 

Blakes eyes widened. It suddenly felt very hot in the room, and the amount of people in the enclosed space had little to do with it.

 

“Woah, hold up there pal. What do you mean return? You trying to make her bait or something?” Sun spoke up, a frown marring his face. He moved away from the wall where his teammates were leaning against to take a few steps forwards.

 

“More like inside intel Sun. Go back as in ‘be one of them’ to get information.” Blake explained, slightly off put by Ironwood’s suggestion.

 

“Hell no,” Yang spoke up. “That’s suicide, Taurus didn’t hesitate to attempt to kill her, I doubt he had a change of heart. Especially now that he wants to be the boss.” The brawlers face turned hard, and her eyes started to get a scarlet tint.

 

“Actually, his intent wasn’t to kill, just hurt,” Blake corrected before her brain was able to keep up with her mouth. This caught the blonde’s attention, her eyes going full on red and taking a step in her direction in confrontation. “You can’t be serious, are you seriously considering going back near that bastard?!” she nearly spat.

 

At Yang’s change of eye color, Blake flinched and turned away. “No,” she responded back to her monotone voice. “Although there _might_ a possibility to convince them, a traitor returning is not a… painless process.” _I would know_ , she thought. _I was the one in charge of… ‘making sure’ they learned their lesson._ They were worse than interrogations, at least _they_ have the option to talk and then everything stops. Returning traitors didn’t have that luxury, some lasted, others didn’t. “Besides, Adam and I have… history. He won’t take my ‘betrayal’ as lightly as the rest.”

 

“ _Torture_?” Yang scoffed in bewilderment. “What type of twisted beasts torture their own people. And all for what? Leaving those savage ideals behind?” Blake’s mention of Adam fed the anger that, up until now, was hiding deep inside the blonde.

 

The faunus however, felt as though she was stabbed in the gut. Her partner’s hatred towards Adam’s torturing of people just told her all she needed to know. She was just like him, she was a beast. Somehow, she preferred the title of being a coward, anything that’ll erase the disgust and hatred in Yang’s eyes. Disgust and hatred towards _her_. Someone who tortured people for their own savage ideals.

 

Blake couldn’t handle all this emotion, either she puts a stop to this conversation, or she’s going to end up breaking her ‘nonchalant’ persona.

 

“The answer is no, General.” She was able to vocalize with only a slight waver in her voice.

 

Ironwood furrowed his eyebrows, but relented.

 

“Very well.” Then, to everyone else he spoke, “I’ll talk with Leo and keep you up to date. It might not be tomorrow, but stay alert at all times.”

 

Qrow however, seemed to have second thoughts about this, “But –

 

“Don’t worry, I won’t give up anything vital, just suggest to keep the chamber guarded, see how he responds. If he come up with any excuse, I honestly don’t think we can trust him. Sure, everyone has suffered from the fall, but all of Remnant has had to. Vacuo is probably the worst off, yet they are doing just fine…” He reasoned. “Depending on that I’ll consider telling him about Spring’s location. I think it would be best if you come as well, actually.”

 

After a moment of thought, Qrow relented. “Alright. Let’s keep in contact. Stay on the lookout for anything suspicious. Get some rest kids, Gods only know when we’ll be able to do so again.”

 

* * *

 

 

As everyone piled out of the meeting room, Blake and Van Dyke were off in one corner having a very hushed discussion. Meanwhile, the now reunited teams SSSN, and RWBY along with the remnants of team JNPR, were talking about getting together to catch up on lost time. Having agreed to it, Weiss noticed the brawler in her team deep in thought as she stared towards Blake’s general area.

 

“Alright! It’s done, everyone off to our place!” Ruby voiced excitedly.

 

“… someone should probably tell Blake of our get together,” she suggested, looking pointedly at Yang, who was still staring off in the distance.

 

“Oh! Your right! I’ll –

 

“Yang!” Weiss finally got the blonde’s attention, simultaneously cutting off her leader mid-sentence.

 

Yang’s eyes snapped out of their haze and landed on the silver-haired girl. “Huh?” She asked, completely out of the loop.

 

“Why don’t _you_ go?” she suggested.

 

“Why don’t I go what princess?” She asked, confused.

 

Weiss sighed, closing her eyes and starting from the beginning, now used to the nickname that was impossible to get rid of. “The get together your overly-hyper sister is dragging us all into against our consent?”

 

“Oh. That sounds great!” She responded, a smile reaching her face as she glanced towards her sister. “I’ve got quite the story to tell you by the way.”

 

“So do I! You’ll never guess the type of Grimm we ran into!”

 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Weiss proceeded. “We are all heading where your sister is staying, why don’t you go get Blake?”

 

At the mention of her partner her smile faltered, “what?”

 

“Blake? … Your partner? Why don’t you go let her know where we’re going so she can join us? Honestly, where is your head?”

 

Yang was still slightly put off by the thought of approaching her partner. “… uhh, maybe Ru –

 

“Great! Now, lets go before Nora gets a head start on the food.”

 

Ruby’s face turned white, “oh no! Ren promised cookies!” Soon Yang was nearly spitting out rose petals out of her mouth at her sister’s disappearance. Wiess following soon after.

 

The blonde simply stood there with an awkward look on her face. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back and breathed in deep. _Its okay, I wanted answers, right? Well, now’s a good time to get them._

 

* * *

 

 

“Why didn’t you tell them?” Van asked.

 

“I… it just didn’t seem like the right time. I know it sounds crazy,” she added, seeing the look in his eyes, “but, just trust me. I’ll tell them about our group if is seems appropriate, but, this is bigger than I thought. Way bigger.”

 

“You can say that again, I’m not even entirely sure I actually believe all of this.”

 

Blake paused in thought. “This is more than just fighting for our name and rights. I want them to know what they are up against.”

 

“Alright, I’ll back you up. But I doubt anyone will back down.”

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“Well, for one. What’s going to happen here will affect every single faunus whether they like it or not. Doing nothing would be foolish. And two, let’s just say I also have a hunch. And I’m never wrong about them.”

 

“Alright, then let’s go and –

 

“I don’t think that’s wise.” Blake looked up in surprise. “You’re a huge target right now. Walking around these parts is too much of a risk. I know for sure that Taurus would want you alive. And that’s not something we need right now.”

 

Seeing that he was right, she relented. “Alright, inform them. Then let me know how it goes. Local comms are still up, we should be able to keep in touch.”

 

At his nod of approval, they were about to turn towards the door to see each other off when Yang started approaching them. Getting a quick glance around, she noticed everyone else had gone off.

 

Standing quite a ways from Blake, the brawler crossed her arms and spoke a complete sentence this time. “Ruby wanted all of us to get together and catch up, they wanted me to tell you if you wanted in.” she simply stated.

 

_ Do you want me there,  _ she wanted to ask.

 

After a few moments of unspoken silence, Van spoke up. “I’ll be heading out, keep in touch.”

 

A small part of her wanted to grab his sleeve and ask his to stay to avoid the inevitable. But she had run away from this long enough.

 

“Okay,” she responded to him.

 

As soon as he was out of the earshot, Yang simply stared back at her with a raised eyebrow, still waiting on a response.

 

“Sure, I’ll go. But I was hoping to talk with you first?” she asked tentatively.

 

At her response, Yang stared back at her in wariness first, but then sighed. “Well, this was gonna happen sooner or later. C’mon, follow me.”

 

* * *

 

 

They were walking down a dark corridor whose only light source were candles hanging on the walls every few yards. They had only been walking for no more than 10 minutes, and the silence that hung between them was as dead as Blake’s social life.

 

“… where are we going?” Blake asked softly and inquisitively, scared that the blonde woman might lash out at her at any moment.

 

Said woman didn’t glance at her. She stared straight ahead while she hmmed at Blake’s question before answering, “Ruby showed me this scenic route that Qrow took her in. It’s beautiful and secluded up there. Figured that was a good place to talk.”

 

Her voice didn’t show much emotion for Blake to guess how she was feeling. Which was odd. Yang was one of those people who wore her feelings on her sleeve, expressed everything and more. But now? She seemed too… guarded. Wary. _Did I do that to her?_ She thought.

 

Silence traveled between them again, until they finally reached a set of heavy double doors that Yang pushed open as if they weighed nothing to her. Blake’s eyes widened and the sight that opened before her. She wasn’t kidding when she said the view was beautiful, although in her eyes, nothing compared to the sunrise in Menagerie. The feline didn’t enjoy the view as much as she’d like to, however. The nervousness that filled Blake seemed to leave her without breath. Causing her to take deep breaths to settle her nerves.

 

Mistaking her erratic breathing, the brawler finally spoke after a few unspoken moments since opening the doorway, “yeah, took my breath away too.”

 

“Right,” Blake responded, winded.

 

The open-air elevator started to rise, the wind becoming a bit stronger the higher it went, causing both girl’s hair to flail around erratically. Yang tried to calm her voluminous locks, while Blake stood unmoving, glad that her hair provided a decent cover for her face. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, hoping to calm her nerves again, but it managed to do nothing for the faunus. Her composure broke for a brief second, her closed expression turning sour, afraid of what could possibly happen, afraid of what Yang would decide to do with their friendship. Terrified, that she’d lose one of the most important people in her life she didn’t realize she depended so heavily on.

 

As Yang still struggled to tame her hair, she turned to her partner to see how well she was faring against the onslaught of wind. She was surprised however to find her unmoving. At first she thought she might be to engrossed in the view. But when she caught a brief glance at her face from between her flying dark midnight tresses, she slowed her arms from her golden locks. Her eyes were closed, so she took the time to inspect her closely. Yang had never seen her partner express much regarding emotion, she wasn’t sure how to identify what she was seeing. But once again, she glanced for the third time to the top of her head where her bow used to be. _Is she… scared? Afraid? Of what? Me?_ The blonde wondered.

 

Yang didn’t have much time to contemplate on it, because soon the open-air elevator stopped in the highest level, and Blake’s eyes snapped open. As soon as it stabilized, the blonde started walking forward, apparently already having a place in mind.

 

“Follow me.” She ordered.

 

Wordlessly, Blake followed her lilac-eyed partner. She walked a few steps behind rather than next to her, still unsure of how to deal with the apparent awkwardness between the duo.

 

A few glances around and Blake was able to see Haven Academy. But rather than enter to the courtyard, Yang turned to the side of the school where a bunch of gorgeous greenery filled her view.

 

_ A garden _ , Blake thought. _Pretty._

 

A huge garden filled the vast space. A short gate that was obscured by vine plants growing over it. Big and beautiful trees and bushes created some sort of makeshift wall, making it impossible to see inside.

 

Taking another glance around back towards the school, Blake noticed that the school really was empty like Ironwood had mentioned.

 

_ Hmmmm, it so quiet, so… eerie. I guess I really am getting paranoid _ , she thought, thinking back to what the Captain from ship Pride had commented on. After Ilia’s confrontation she was slightly more on edge than usual. Mystral was the White Fang’s ground of operations, if Ilia was able to find her, she was afraid that they’d find her again and retaliate against her. Or her friends.

 

_ You need to stop, _ she thought. _Don’t. Don’t try to run from this. From them._

 

“ -ake?”

 

“ – Blake? Did you hear me?” Yang repeated.

 

Snapping out of her haze, the faunus was finally able to respond. “Huh?”

 

The blonde raised an eyebrow at her. They had stopped at the entrance of the Garden, Yang having turned around to face her quiet partner while holding the gate open.

 

“I said, ‘after you,’” she responded a bit slower this time. She had been trying to get the girl’s attention about four times. Blake had stopped when the blonde did at the foot of the garden’s entrance, but stayed put with a far off look on her face.

 

_ She’s spacing out a lot _ , Yang noticed. _That’s… different._ Usually, she was the stealthiest member of their group. Always on guard at any moment’s notice.

 

Without answering, the woman simply stepped through.

 

Yang stood there for a bit, paused in thought. She was honestly surprised her composure was still intact. Her first instinct was to retaliate, ask for answers with possible yelling involved. But, something made her pause.

 

_ Her eyes. _ She was always a sucker for her amber eyes. They were the only thing that expressed emotion back in the Beacon days. She was one of the only people who could read her with just a look. Whether it was annoyance in response to another dumb pun of hers, or determination whenever she had something she needed to follow through. Her favorite was that slight sparkle when they sparred, the thrill. She was enjoying it. The few times she saw that Blake was having genuine fun in what she was doing, was when they sparred.

 

She always had such a serious face, and when she realized what her partner was fighting for back during Dr. Oobleck’s shadowing, she realized what tremendous weight she carried on her shoulders. But that stubborn dark-haired beauty never realized that team RWBY was meant to help carry some of the burden. Not only as a team, but as friends.

 

Yang snapped out of her thoughts and stepped inside the garden as well. Looking around she confirmed that they were truly alone, the vast garden was empty aside from the duo.

 

Shrubs and flowers covered every inch of the garden, save for the small trail that seemed to travel further out. Trees arched over the trail, casting shadows on the path.

 

Catching up to her amber eyed partner she took a deep breath. But before she could even utter a word the other woman spoke.

 

“I’m sorry,” she heard the shorter girl murmured, almost inaudibly. Slowly, she turned around, her white coat swaying from the breeze. Now facing the wind, her hair wildly blew all over her face before settling behind her. Her eyes had a glassy sheen, as if a tear would fall if she were to blink. Her ears shifted back, mimicking a kitten that was scared to walk towards you any further.

 

What Yang saw completely undid her, she wanted to wrap her arms around the shorter girl like she would have any other time. But hurt and anger held her in place.

 

“For what,” Yang asked in a surprisingly even voice.

 

Blake closed her eyes and looked away to the right. The faunus’ heartbeat pumped erratically. She was terrified.

 

“Look at me,” the blonde nearly demanded.

 

Blake slowly looked up, reluctantly.

 

“What are you sorry for?” She asked again.

 

Blake took what seemed the millionth breath, and glanced down at her partner’s right arm.

 

“I – I’m sorry I failed you as a partner… as a friend…

 

Silence.

 

“I know you're not very happy with me right now….

 

Yang scoffed lightly at that, _you think?_

 

“… and to be honest, I hoped you wouldn’t be. I hoped you’d hate me for leaving.”

 

The blonde frowned upon hearing that, confused if she heard her partner correctly.

 

“Excuse me, what did you just say?” she asked for clarification. Surely, she didn’t hear what she thought she heard.

 

Blake struggled to maintain eye contact, but she did so anyway. “… I’ve dealt with hate all my life Yang, its nothing new to me.” She finally couldn’t handle seeing Yang’s expressionless face any longer and looked away again, muttering under her breath, “all I did was prove him right. That I’m a coward who does nothing more than run away.”

 

Yang was close enough, however, to hear the last part. _This woman, I swear, is going to be the death of me…_ , she thought.

 

Not being able to take it any longer. Her eyes turned red and took a step towards the closed-off faunus, who flinched when the brawler’s hands rose. She was about to run her hands through her hair in frustration and –

 

Instinctively, Blake had turned her head and raised her left arm, protecting her face. Her other hand went to her weapon strapped on her back, but not drawing it, just hovering. She couldn’t help it, she didn’t know if it was the paranoia that was still engraved deep in her bones, or the fact that those red eyes and raised hands were just too familiar from past experiences, As much as she hated to admit it.

 

Yang, on the other hand, froze. Her teammate’s reaction stopping her dead in her tracks. _What the hell happened for her to react this way? I mean, the Fall of Beacon changed all of us, sure, but… what would she be afraid of? … Me? Did she think I was gonna hurt her?_

 

Yang sighed, deeply. She didn’t know what happened to her friend after that day. She wanted to understand why she left. Maybe some yelling here and there, but all she wanted was to _understand._ Most of her anger she left it behind, most of it. And although she hated to admit it, her temper has a very thin border line nowadays, but she’d never hurt her friends. Her partner.

 

Thinking back, Yang knew that Blake never reacted this way at Beacon, so she quickly deduced that _something_ happened. But what? Was it from that night? And to be honest, she didn’t exactly comprehend what happened back with her fight against that Adam guy either. And honestly? She was slightly fearful to find out.

 

But seeing her partner this way simmered down her pain and anger she held towards her. Instead of getting in her face and demanding answers, she finished closing the distance between them and wrapped her arms around the slightly shorter girl. Extinguishing any open space between them, Yang pressed her body firmly against hers.

 

“I’m so fucking pissed at you right now,” she muttered into her dark hair. Her face was pressed against the faunus,’ her mouth inches above her human ear. “But I’d never hurt you. You know that, right?” she asked.

 

She felt Blake shift underneath her. At first, she thought she was going to pull away, like she usually did with her ‘momma bear hugs,’ but to her surprise, she only shifted so that her trapped hands were free, in order to nearly clench the fabric of her jacket in her grasp. Almost as if she was afraid she’d pull away.

 

“I know,” she responded softly. “… it’s just… a knee-jerk reaction.” She explained. “I’ve been on the run with a target behind my back… I’m sorry.” She turned her face and buried it into the blonde’s neck, pressing closer to her if that were even possible.

 

Yang’s face turned sour. Just how long has she been like this. Alone? Still. Fucking. Stubborn.

 

“Why did you leave?” She finally asked. She was tired of hearing her say she’s sorry. She needed an explanation.

 

“ – I…” Blake started to say, but stopped short.

 

“Say it,” Yang whispered.

 

Blake’s uneven breathing seemed to get louder. Her hands were gripping the blonde’s tan coat tighter. So hard, that her knuckles were turning white.

 

“I care about you, Yang… a lot.” She buried her face deeper into her neck. _Gods,_ she thought. _Why is this so hard?_

 

“Well,” Yang voiced, “you have a funny way of showing it.”

 

Blake flinched with her entire body, then stiffened. She expected that type of response, tried to even mentally prepare for it, but hearing a person once filled with so much lightheartedness and joy talk with a voice now void of emotion, tore at her heartstrings. She practically rivaled her own monotone voice.

 

Her body stayed frozen, but she released her hands from Yang’s jacket and started to move backwards, away from the girl she hurt so much.

 

“Oh, no you don’t,” said girl warned, tightening her arms tighter around the introvert. “You’re not going anywhere. Talk to me.”

 

After a few moments of heartfelt silence with no response, she asked again with more in a low murmur.

 

“Talk to me… _please_.” Her voice finally cracked.

 

But this seemed to do it for Blake, because she finally whispered, “I’m so sorry for leaving the way I did…” She trailed off.

 

Silence, _again_ , and then Yang’s, “so then why did you.”

 

“I had to lead them away from the team, away from _you_. I thought that if I made you hate me it’d be easier to leave me be.”

 

Yang sighed angrily, mostly to the fact that it had worked, for a brief period of time at least. Until she realized she needed answers. Until she understood that Blake, as must she claimed she wants to be left alone, doesn’t say it because she likes to be alone. There’s always a reason, whether its to read a book in peace or to escape the blonde’s excessive teasing.

 

The question is, what was her reason this time?

 

“But why would you need to leave? We’re stronger together, Blake, as a _team_.”

 

“Because he –” Blake took a deep breath. “ _He’s_ a very spiteful man, Yang. In his mind, I did him wrong. So, he’ll do everything and anything, to wrong me back. And he proved it that day. Before you walked in, he promised me he’d destroy everything I… care about. And he started with you. I know what he’s capable of Yang, I’ve been his partner for years. I knew that if I left Vale, he’d use his resources to find me, not you, Ruby, or Weiss.”

 

“But then you’re left all alone!” She called her out angrily. “Who the hell is going to protect _you_?!”

 

At the raise in her voice, Blake flinched again but for an entirely different reason. Her faunus ears were directly placed next to Yang’s face, the loud noise causing them to flicker backwards. Although the tone in her voice was uncomfortable, she didn’t dare back away from her. Partially because she’d miss the warmth that Yang always seemed to be wrapped around. But mostly because she was afraid that another attempt at backing away would make Yang hug her _tighter_. And she wasn’t sure she’d breathe comfortably after that.

 

“I know.”

 

“The whole point of being – wait. What?”

 

“I wasn’t being selfless like I thought I was. I was stubborn, and I can’t force you guys to _not_ , risk yourselves for me. Even if I really don’t want you to. I know that now.”

 

Yang was so taken aback because she finally released Blake from her death bear hug to look at her inquisitively. “You’re not being stubborn,” she stated. “Who are you, and what have you done with my partner?” She asked humorously. Finally showing emotion aside from anger and exasperation.

 

Blake’s heart warmed at the taller woman’s declaration of being her partner. _She still wants me here, she_ thought _. I don’t believe it._

 

“Sun, surprisingly had a lot to do with it.” She answered.

 

At the mention of the blonde monkey boy, Yang’s mood shifted a little. “Sun?” she asked her in a less excited voice.

 

“During a confrontation with… the White Fang, he got badly injured. It kind of, made me snap I guess. When I saw him fall to the ground I kept seeing you. So, I yelled at him that that was the reason I had left, that I didn’t want him around. But he didn’t listen to me. He yelled back and… pretty much said everything straight to my face,” she huffed thinking back. “It really pissed me off but, he was right.”

 

Yang stared at her partner intently for a moment. Then asked, “so… how did you end up with Sun?”

 

“It took me about 6 months before I was able to get the White Fang off my back. When I did I left to my hometown.”

 

Yang’s eyes widened. _She’s been running for that long? Alone?_ “Menagerie, right?” Yang asked, recalling back from the meeting.

 

Blake nodded. “Yes, it’s a long trip there by boat. And as soon as I got on I realized Sun had followed me on. It was too late to turn back. It was either have him come with me or push him overboard. Which was tempting to do.”

 

Yang’s lips quirked at that. “So, stalker monkey boy followed you home.” She shortened it up. “okay, one last thing.” Blake waited attentively. “What now?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“What now? You’re here, so what do you plan to do?” She asked, slightly scared of what the answer would be. “Because I know you didn’t expect to see me or anyone else for that matter. You had something else in mind. So, why are you here, and what do you plan to do.”

 

Blake paused. She didn’t plan on saying anything until after Van Dyke came back with everyone response. But it was just Yang, she’d keep quiet about it.

 

“Like I mentioned in the meeting, Adam plans to become the next High Leader. We want to stop that and warn Sienna Kahn. If we manage to succeed, we plan on taking back the White Fang to what it used to be.”

 

Surprise filled her partner’s features, “we?”

 

“I, well, Sun and I gathered a bunch of faunus who are willing to fight. Of course, that was before this whole… Salem ordeal. So, I asked Van to talk to them, hopefully they wont change their minds and think we’re crazy.”

 

“Ahh, that’s why you didn’t mention the whole ‘I have a small army’ thing? You want them to know what they’re getting into.”

 

“Yes. Their main headquarters is here in Mystral, but after learning everything. It’ll just be a matter of time before they show up. We had thought about heading there straight but, we don’t know how Sienna will react to that. And we’d be completely outnumbered. And to be honest… I’d rather stay with my team if they’d let me. Go through this, together.”

 

Yang raised an eyebrow. “You say that as if you think they’d say no. Of course, they want you here. Honestly, sometimes I wonder what goes on in that stubborn head of yours.”

 

“Sorry…”

 

“Enough apologizing. I’m tired of hearing you say that over and over.”

 

“Sor –” She stopped at Yang’s warning glare. So she opted for telling her something she hoped would come out right.

 

“I hated leaving. I hated being alone. Being with you guys? It’s the happiest I’ve ever been.” She looked away and sighed deeply. “I never even really had friends to begin with, or well. Friends who don’t end up either hunting me down or stabbing me.”

 

Yang sighed. “As much as I usually appreciate your dry sarcastic humor, please don’t joke about that.” She pleaded, looking down at her scar on her toned stomach.

 

“Oh. Uh, I wasn’t joking. It was literal.” She responded uncomfortably.

 

Yang blinked. “You –” Yang blinked again, then tilted her head back, rubbing her hands over her face. “It’s been a long day, maybe we should keep the rest of this conversation on hold.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“C’mon. Everyone is probably waiting for us.”

 

As they were walking out, Blake paused. There was one thing she needed clarified.

 

“Yang?”

 

She turned around at the sound of her name, and looked at her partner expectantly.

 

“Where does that leave… us?” She asked.

 

Yang regarded her for a moment then looked to the ground in thought. “I’m still very upset. You left when I needed you most. Not a goodbye. Nothing. At least Ruby had the audacity to leave a letter, as sucky as a move that was.” She muttered towards the end, but Blake’s heightened hearing caught it. “My point of this talk was to find out why you left. And why you are here now. Which now I know a pretty good chunk of it, but I bet my other arm you’ve got more going on, am I right?”

 

Blake frowned at the mention of betting an arm, but responded anyway. “Yes, it’s just… a long story to get into right now…” she responded, her mind turning to Adam and Ilia.

 

Nodding her head once in confirmation, Yang the said,” thought so.”

 

She took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m still upset. I want to stay mad at you. But I know now the reasons why you did what you did. I don’t agree with your choices, but let me ask you this. Do you take it back?” Yang glanced at Blake with so much intensity, it nearly made the faunus take a step back.

 

“I… still think leaving Vale was my best option…” Yang’s eyes, instead of turning scarlet, expressed sorrow. “But I wouldn’t leave without knowing you were truly okay. Explain the situation, and, who knows. Maybe you could’ve met my parents.”

 

Yang’s eyes widened in surprise.

 

“Vale was crawling with White Fang activity for a while after the Fall, staying is a risky choice when you’re a deserter. That’s why I think leaving is still the best option. I just regret leaving you like that. Like…”

 

“ – like my mom?” Yang answered for her.

 

Blake winced, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean –

 

“No, it's okay. I – … I actually met her. She the reason I got here a lot faster.”

 

Now it was Blake’s turn to be surprised. “She told me quite a few things. But now’s not a good time for that. But to answer your question, Blake. We might not be 100%. But… we’re okay. We’re getting there. Just… we’ve both been through a lot, but things are really getting fucked up. Pyrrah and Penny are testament of that. We can seriously die tomorrow, and I don’t want to regret not trying to patch things up with you. So… we’re okay.” She smiled, truly smiled at Blake for the first time since seeing her. Not her usual cheerful one, but warm and heartfelt. She extended her hand out towards Blake, waiting for her.

 

Blake on the other hand, was completely floored. She was filled with emotion that she couldn’t even return the smile. She brought her hand up to her mouth and her eyes slightly narrowed to avoid spilling any tears.

 

Hesitantly, she asked, “… can… can I hug you?”

 

The brawler saw her partner truly bring down her walls at that moment, and although is was surprising, it made her feel accomplished. She was finally letting her in. little by little.

 

Yang dropped her arm and huffed out loud, shaking her head in wonderment. Wordlessly, she closed the gap between them once again and crushed the overwhelmed girl into her arms for the second time. Resting her chin atop Blake’s head, between her ears she muttered, “You’re not supposed to ask.”

 

Finally, the mist gathered within Blake’s eyes glided down her face. And the rain wasn’t masking it this time. No cold rain. Warmth, just warmth.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, that happened. I actually am uploading this after watching RWBY Volume 5 Chapter 8. And I wont spill anything, but damn. Rooster Teeth is cruel for leaving us hanging.


	10. The Inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Lake Kawaguchi is a real place in Japan where some of the most common fish is rainbow trouts. *gay shipping intensifies*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So I apologize for any grammatical errors, I read this like 5 times and I keep finding errors. If I kept going I would never publish it. Anyway, I have some important stuff to discuss at the bottom. See you down there!

Blake loves literature, everyone knows that by this point. At first she loved the many stories that her father would tell her, and yearned for more. They were an escape to her, really, an escape from cruel reality. She yearned to live the lives of the protagonists in those books, they seem much better off that she would ever be. And there was this… feeling that comes with learning about so many stories, with their own lives between those pages, and reading them felt as though she was living along with them. It is much true that a reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who never reads lives only one.

Not all the stories she reads are the same, some went from fantasy, to futuristic, fairy tales, and even historical. She did seem to, however to have a habit of picking up… romance novels more often than not. But that’s besides the point.

The point here was, that every single person in this room expects her to believe that a young fourteen-year-old boy had the soul of professor Ozpin within him. She might have read many books that she wished were true, but Blake knew how harsh reality is. Real life isn’t a fairy tale, it is what it is.

“Yep, that was our expression too!” Nora exclaimed. “Then Ruby’s uncle kinda fell flat in his face.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s because he was drunk Nora,” replied Jaune.

After a long day of lunch, talking and catching up with everyone, the only people left in the room was team RWBY and JNR, Sun and his team decided to call it a day and left to catch up on their own. But not before Sun had a brief talk with Blake, hoping she’ll be okay on her own. Yang being the unspoken question.

“I’ll be fine,” she had answered, figuring that although the talk with her partner wasn’t over, they would be okay.

Yang then spoke up on how she was able to get to Haven quickly, her mention of her mother catching Qrow and Oscar’s- err, Ozpin’s? attention.

“So, the maidens, magic, Salem, and now… reincarnation? The other stuff was overwhelming to begin with, but _this?_ ” was Blake’s answer.

“I know this is much for you to take in, but I feel it is important for you to know this, I fear that what is to come will be a great burden on all of you. The more you know, the better off you’ll be. There is a saying that knowledge is power, and that couldn’t be more right.”

A pause, before he turned to Yang, “Miss Xiao Long, you mentioned your mother spoke something of this nature. Is this more or less what she told you?”

Weiss glanced at Yang, seeing her deep in thought, she answered for her, “for the most part.”

“You forgot something,” Yang interrupted, “you forgot to tell everyone what you did to Qrow and my mother.”

A surprised gasp came from Ruby, and confused glances were thrown around between everyone, but Jaune was the one who spoke up, “what is she talking about?”

“Oh, great,” muttered Qrow.

“Hmh, that’s not a secret I thought she would give up so easily. You mother must trust you a great deal.”

Yang’s only response was a grimace.

Ozpin sighed, “my ability to reincarnate, though a curse, isn’t without a few key benefits. Much like the Maidens, I too possess a certain… “magical” power.”

He stood up from the couch he was sitting in he started pacing around the room. Yang’s expression wary the entire time. “Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to “see” more, to move freely and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I… well… gave them the ability to turn into birds.” He chuckled humorlessly, “rather ridiculous sounding out loud, isn’t it?” He paused next to Qrow looking up and assessing the reactions.

Everyone’s expression turned questionable, unable to actually believe his claims, save for Yang and Jaune who seemed to be even more wary against Ozpin than they already were.

“You turned them… into birds,” Ren repeated slowly.

“Alright, now you’re just messing with us,” was Nora’s skeptical reply.

“What else is new,” Jaune agreed with her.

“ – He’s telling the truth,” interrupted Weiss. “We saw it. Yang’s mom… changed, right in front of us.”

At this point, Yang couldn’t take it anymore. Her mom had insisted she ask questions, to not trust blindly, and she was beginning to see why. “Why would you do something like that? I mean, what is wrong with you?

“Yang, that’s enough.” Qrow interrupted, “we made a choice. We wanted this.”

Yang paused at her uncle’s response. _He wanted this? what in the world for, what is he fighting for. Who is he fighting for?_

Ozpin glanced at Qrow asking for permission to tell the story behind it, “may I.” At his nod, he continued to pace forward. “Granting this power to them was no trivial task, and I can assure you it was not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem’s plans, as well as searching for Maidens when their hosts became unclear.”

“Okay, so, have you done this with others?” Ruby asked, trying to grasp this new information. “Like General Ironwood? Or Professor Goodwitch?”

Ozpin now stood next to Yang, pausing to try and answer their questions as best as he could. “As helpful as that might be, unfortunately it is not that simple. My power is finite, and if I’m being honest, dwindling. The amount that I gifted to Qrow and Raven was, all things considered, rather miniscule. You see, centuries ago, I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens.”

The clock ticked in the distance, with no one able to say anything, it made the only noise in the room.

“Miss Xiao Long, it was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to… ‘play close to the chest.’ I believe that’s how you phrased it?” he asked Qrow, glancing back at him.

“Heh, yeah.”

“Everyone has a choice. The Branwen’s chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties, in favor of her own self-interest. Now, all of you have a choice.” Ozpin turned his back to them and closed his eyes for what he said next. “If anyone wishes to leave, now is the time. There’s no shame or disgrace in abstaining, only in retreat.”

Glances where thrown around, but no one moved. Uncertainty and slight fear apparent in their eyes. Just what did they get themselves into. Who would’ve thought that the dream of becoming a huntress/er and study at Beacon Academy, come to this?

Upon hearing nobody move from their seats, he opened his eyes and turned around, “very well then –

Yang stood. Grabbing everybody’s attention. Her sister’s in particular, “Yang?”

“If Ruby sticks around, then I will too. If there’s one thing I know about her, its that she somehow always knows the right thing to do. But, if we’re going to help, if we’re going to keep risking our lives, no more lies. No more half-truths.”

“Understood.”

Yang sat back down.

“Let me get one thing straight,” Blake finally spoke up after moments of silence. “You’re telling me that there are two souls in that boy’s body? So not only are fairy tales true but so are fictional fantasy novels?” She asked, still unable to grasp that bit of information. Screw turning people into birds, shifting wasn’t unknown in her family tree, but that was a faunus secret that most faunus didn’t even know about. No, reincarnation, just who _is_ Ozpin, if that’s his name at all. 

“Ahh, seems you may have had a run in with one of my books.”

A look Yang never saw Blake display was sprawled on her face. Said faunus was currently blinking a few times, almost thinking she heard wrong, then slowly asked, “… you… wrote those books…” She had _the_ author of The Man with Two Souls in front of her?

Ozpin smiled at this, “it seems I may have a fan?” Yang chuckled, amused at her partner’s current realization and predicament.

Blake stayed mute, torn between asking him for his autograph or rocking back and forth in a corner from these roller-coaster mind tricks that today has been. Instead, she simply rubbed her hands down her face, wondering how exactly she got into this mess.

“Well, I’m sure that is enough information to last you a life time. If any of you have any questions at any time, please, don’t hesitate to ask. I encourage you to get a good night’s rest.”

With that, Oscar seemed to be back and excused himself. But not after apologizing profusely to Yang for having his hand on  her shoulder so casually.

“What now?” Asked Jaune.

Ren was the one who spoke up. “Well, the road ahead will soon be filled with hardships and peril, and it’s been too long since we’ve been together. Let’s enjoy this moment, at the least.”

“…..”

“Yeah, turns out Ren gets real deep when he talks.”

* * *

 

Dinner was served surrounded by laughs and smiles. Weiss told her story of summoning a Boarbatusk in the middle of a dinner party to attack some snotty woman taking the Fall of Beacon lightly. Jaune kept asking himself how he kept losing the map during their trip to Mistral. Ruby talks about that Nukelavee Grimm that Sun hear rumors about.

“Do you realize you might have run into one of the most notorious legendary grim that’s has been around for centuries?” Blake interrupted, floored at hearing her leader take on such an ancient being.

“Really? I mean it was pretty tough. Like, _really_ tough. I was actually worried there for a bit.” She pondered. “But Sun mentioned a Flying sea monster you guys fought! That must have been epic! I’ve never seem aquatic Grimm like that! Just the occasional big fish.”

“Sea Feilongs are actually quite common around those parts near Menagerie. They just don’t get bothered so easily, it almost seems like they are, agitated recently.” Blake responded.

“Wow, we just have to go visit there sometime! Oh! And we can meet your parents too! I wonder what they look like.” Ruby exclaimed and pondered.

Blake eyed her team leader warily, unsure of how she exactly she thought her parents looked like. Her imagination can be quite… unique at times.

“… I don’t think going there anytime soon is a good idea Ruby.” Weiss inputted.

Ruby sulked at that, “aww why??”

“Because Menagerie is an overpopulated island for faunus specifically, Ruby. I doubt being visited by humans would be a smart choice at a time like this. Especially with the white fang around. No offence.”

Blake raised an eyebrow, “none taken. And your right. Being thrown into a small almost ¾ uninhabitable island didn’t sit well with a lot of faunus. It’s actually a huge factor in how the White Fang came to be. Putting a huge amount of angry people together made it quite easy.”

“And your dad was the one who started everything?” Asked Weiss inquisitively.

“He was a spokesperson that wanted to speak out about the injustice that faunus have been subjected to. Just peaceful protests and slowly making progress to try and help people understand. They responded with nothing but insults and practically spit in our faces,” as she talked she noticed everyone started to become attentive. It was the first time that Blake has spoken, and she was being very open right now. About her origins, her upbringing. “My father believed that being provoked would solve nothing, but not many were willing to put up with that. So, others brought up ideas that, unfortunately brought faster results. Fighting back.”

“You never talk much about your past, and I’m glad you’re confiding in us Blake. You’re pretty much fighting two wars right know, Salem and the right thing to do for your kind. Just know were here for you. We all are.” Weiss added, uncharacteristically warm. Well. That was a lie. She changed, all of us have.

Blake smiled. “I know. I just, didn’t want to bring this down on all of you. We all applied for beacon for distinct reasons. Mine happens to be this.”

“The thing with being part of a team, is that the weight that you used to carry by yourself on your shoulders, is now for all of us to help you carry it.” Ruby offered.

“Yeah, took me a while to understand that.” She spoke softly.

“Welp, I don’t know about you guys but I’m beat!” Yang interrupted.

“Same here, today was exhausting.”

Given that there were now more people than rooms, it was decided that they would each have to share in pairs, deciding to split off into partners. This current development forced Blake to pause, glancing over at Yang who had been silent during the whole evening. Not one word was passed between the two since the Garden talk. Their situation was a bit on the awkward side at the moment, even though their talk had gotten along okay.

Ruby showed each person their given rooms. Blake and Yang’s being the furthest from everyone else. Upon entering the first thing you could feel as the door closed was tension in the air. Tension so intense it was hard to breathe.

“There’s a shower there if you wanna go first,” Yang broke the awkward silence.

Blake was about to take it, until she realized one thing, “I don’t have anything on me.” Thinking this trip was only going to be to have a talk with the headmaster, Blake left everything back at the tavern.

Yang pondered this for a moment, then walked over to her things she’d unpacked yesterday. “I have a comfortable hoodie that can probably fit you like a dress.” Fumbling a bit through the drawers, she mumbled a low ‘here it is’ and turned around with the fabric outstretched in front of her. It did look very comfortable… and… yellow.

Yang raised an eyebrow at seeing her partner eye the material critically. “If you don’t like it –

“No!” she burst out impulsively, “it’s just that, you sure have an obsession with yellow.” She tried to explain.

She cocked her head and eyed her outfit. “As you do with black. Like your transition to more of the purple though, it suits you.”

Blake let out a shaky laugh, “touché.” She took the hoodie from her and headed for the showers, hoping for the best, her current clothes were clean at least. She was so glad she took a shot at the showers in the tavern yesterday. Although the place had a homey look, it didn’t look very well cared for in the cleaning department.

As Blake walked in and started undressing she realized she completely forgot about the golden object still hanging on her right wrist. So many things had happened today that it never even crossed her mind.

 _Should I… give this to her now?_ she thought.

Taking it off carefully and placing it in the counter she gazed over to her reflection. Its been so long since she stood in front of a mirror. Her hair seemed way longer, and her bang were starting to grow over her eyes. Trailing her gaze down she saw that clean vertical scar on her lower abdomen that, compared to her scars on both her forearms, looked way nicer. The jagged lines that crisscrossed her arms, due to the chains that held her upright, were a cruel reminder of what Adam was capable of, and that he needed to be stopped.

As she finished up and left the bathroom, she tried tucking the bottom of the sweater further down. Feeling self-conscious at showing a lot of leg skin. Which she immediately felt silly about, having more scars on her upper body than below. Raising her head, she saw that the lights were off, and that Yang was already in bed. Or at least she thinks she was. Trying her best not to disturb her, she placed the golden bracelet down on the counter on her side of the king bed.

She tried so hard to sleep, she did. But it was getting harder and harder these days. As it was, she already was a light sleeper giver her days in the White Fang and sleeping out in the open. But recently she’s been getting less than 4 hour sleep. Napping throughout the day helped, but she couldn’t do that all the time. After 3 hours of trying to give in to the dark, she gave up. Sitting up, she figured some fresh air might help.

With as little noise as possible, Blake kept the obnoxious yellow hoodie but put on her pants and boots, grabbing her weapon before opening the door.

_Now, what’s the highest building around here._

* * *

 

Black long hair, that long red sword that she favors, along with those red eyes were the last thing she saw of her mother before crossing that portal. She left again, in a different sense. Yang tried reaching out for her, tried to get her to understand that we can find a way to defeat Salem, together. But when she reached out and turned her around, it was amber eyes she saw, not red. Beautiful golden amber, her ears finally free from that obstruction she so called a bow. She was smiling, but there was a hint of sadness to her. She was slowly starting to walk away from her. Yang stepped forward to try and reach for her again, but it seemed as though each step she took forward, Blake took three backward. She was getting further away from her until the last thing she saw was a red blade, thrusting through her from behind.

“Blake!”

Widened eyes searched the room frantically, her heart beating insanely fast when she found the space next to her cold and empty. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to breathe. She’s fine, she’s here. She just probably went to get something to drink.

It took her a while to get herself together, but she managed to do it. Her shaking arm wouldn’t stop though. She tried to grip her left arm to stop it when she realized there was nothing but dead air. Breathing a few more times she grabbed her mechanical arm from the counter to her right and tried to clasp the mechanism back on. It took four tries with a shaking hand, but she was able to do it.

After a few more minutes her seemed to have calmed down but was curious at the still no return of her partner. Looking over to her side again, she was going to look to see if Gambol Shroud was here when she saw a rather smaller object on the opposite side of the bed. Confused, she stood up and searched her drawer to make sure she wasn’t mistaking.

Nope. Her weapon was safely tucked in her drawer, yet when she turned around, there stood another replica.

It… it can’t be. Can it? Walking over to Blake’s side, she grabbed the similar looking weapon from the bedside table. There was no mistaking it. This was her weapon. But, how? The last time she had this was at the Fall. Back when she… back when she was brutally beaten by Adam Taurus. _Did Blake have this? How did she.. she wouldn’t have gone back there. That’s a suicide mission with all those Grimm._ Speaking of, where was she.

Setting her weapon back down she looked around the room again, slightly panicked at not seeing her weapon. She wouldn’t. She wouldn’t do that again. She can’t.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying again to calm down, bumping into the table behind her. Opening her eyes again, she noticed Blake’s white coat and top.

Yang let out a breath. Blake wouldn’t be caught dead wearing yellow. But what the hell is she doing at. . . she looked at the time on her scroll. 3am?

After some debating, she got dressed and grabbed her left Ember Celica, after some thought, she picked up her other half and slid it into her belt bag.

 _Now, if I were a cat, where would I go?_ She thought.

* * *

 

She dangled her feet on the edge, swinging them back and forth. She raised her right foot up and rested her chin on her knee, _I wonder, if I fall, would I land on fours like a cat or on my two feet?_ She thought. Although the cat faunus hated to admit it, she did tend to have a few… feline tendencies, though her love of tuna was simply because it would be a sin for someone to hate such a delicacy.

Looking up at the moon, she let her mind wander. She remembered the Nevermore fight back at Beacon’s initiation. She remembered being slammed back by Nora and falling over the edge. That feeling of free falling, it was nice. It sounded odd to her, but there was something about feeling the wind rushing past you and the freefall felt… well, it’s hard to put it into words.

“I wonder…” she murmured, standing up and leaning over the edge inquisitively. She kind of wanted to replicate that feeling, wanted to forget all of this for just a moment and simply… let go.

She was currently standing on top a building in the Academy top grounds that faced the edge of the mountain hills. It was not very far from the open elevator that Yang showed her a few hours ago. This time, the view was different. The moon was the only source of light at the moment. The silence was music to her ears, and the wind that lightly blew her ebony locks away from her face was refreshing.

This is what she needed.

Maybe being on the road for so long made her feel claustrophobic inside a closed space with a comfortable bed. But who was she kidding. The reason she couldn’t sleep was because of the person that was laying next to her. After to many months of regret, anger, sadness, and pain. Simply laying down next to her as if nothing happened made her feel… undeserving.

Was it weird of her to feel the need to be hated? She should be hated, yelled at, or even kicked out for the things she’s done. She feels so undeserving of her thoughtful team that she thinks this could be a dream. That if she fell asleep and she woke up, she’d be back in the outskirts of Vale, fighting Grimm in Forever Fall and keeping the White Fang off her back. She didn’t want to wake up.

_I don’t want to be alone again. I don’t._

She squeezed her eyes shut. Erasing those thought from her mind. She shouldn’t undermine the support and friendship of her team. They deserve better. Opening her eyes once again she looked back down the edge of the cliff, earlier thoughts of possibly jumping for the heck of it floating back into mind, replacing her poisonous thoughts.

Her extreme sports thrill thoughts were interrupted when suddenly, a loud metal screeching sound reached her ears, causing them to fold down in slight pain. The sound caught her of guard, she turned around swiftly and smoothly despite the 3-inch width of the edge she was currently standing on, resting her hand on her weapon behind her back with bent knees.

To her surprise, a pair of lilac eyes stared back at her. The blond didn’t notice her at first. She had opened the metal door with more force than necessary, cursing under her breath when it caught on the uneven cement roof, slowing the door to a complete stop about halfway. Not ready for the sudden halt, caused Yang to slam the left side of her body against it.

“Fuck,” she grunted.

Blake’s lips raised ever so slightly at the current antics she was witnessing.

Yang felt someone was watching her so she scanned the surrounding area looking for a certain someone, her eyes soon landing on Blake’s form in the shadows. She was in a defensive stance, but upon seeing that it was Yang, her body seemed to immediately ease up. When their eyes met, neither moved.

As Yang observed Blake, she noticed that her eyes looked… more feline than usual, and when the moonlight started to shine from behind those stormy clouds, they almost seemed to glow a gorgeous amber. Accentuating the narrowed pupils, a lot more. Her skin also looked paler than usual, but not enough to be considered sickly, more of a soft glow.

Taking a look of where she was standing, she asked, “so its true?” Breaking the silence that almost border lined awkward. The faunus cocked her head to the side in question, making her look very much like a cat. She mustered all her strength to not smile at how adorable she was being right now and not even knowing it. “Cats and their love of heights,” she responded, looking pointedly at her. It was honestly her best bet at finding her, looking for high places that is.

Understanding flashed in Blake’s eyes along with a chuckle that she allowed free. “Fortunately, I know how to get down,” she quipped back. She let go of her weapon that she had still been gripping and look another glance behind her. Damn it looks tempting to give it a go and jump.

“You’re not actually thinking about jumping, are you?” Yang asked. Sure, they had aura, but one wrong landing at this height could be disastrous.

“I’ve dealt with worse,” was Blake’s response, not taking her eyes off the view. She was looking for the right place to stick her weapon in order to swing safely to one of the many levels of living down the mountains without dislocating her shoulder.

“Can I join you?” Yang asked tentatively.

Blake didn’t answer, but she turned back around to face the view and sat down the ledge once again, moving over to make an open spot. Yang took the unspoken invitation and sat down next to her. After a few silent moments, the silence was broken once again.

“So, what brought up suicidal thoughts tonight on a full moon?” Yang tried to joke. She was slightly concerned if her partner really did jump. Not because she didn’t believe in her skills but… she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

_If she jumps, she’ll leave me behind. Again._

“It seemed fun.”

“It seemed fun to jump off the side of a mountain,” Yang asked in disbelief.

“Well, it’s more the feeling you get, its hard to explain. Kind of like, you are letting all your worries go. Nothing is on your mind except…” – _How can I explain it?_

“ – except being free,” Yang finished for her.

Blake jerked her head sideways at her statement, “exactly,” she agreed.

Yang smiled widely now. “I know what you mean,” she said. “And there is another way other than jumping off the highest building or being launched into a forest full of Grimm.”

She stood up and offered her hand for Blake to take, “follow me, there’s a friend of mine I want you to meet…”

Now, Blake didn’t know what to expect exactly, but this surely did not come to mind. When they finally reached their destination.

“Bumblebee?” Blake asked incredulously.

“Yup.”

“…”

“Oh, c’mon! Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a motorcycle before.” She asked gesturing at her love and pride.

“Oh, I have. I used to ride one, I just never named an inanimate object before.” She muttered that last part.

“You own a bike?!” Yang asked in pleased surprise, ignoring the jab at her girl.

“Uh, no. I just used to ride one for a while…” she tried to respond evasively, but Yang caught on.

“You _stole_ a bike?!”

 “… it was black… and in my defense, I was being followed and needed a fast getaway.” She avoided eye contact, silently chastising herself for admitting in stealing something.

“If my girl ever goes missing, I will bring hell upon you Belladonna.” Was Yang’s response. No looking down at her for stealing, no disapproving glare. Just Yang and her usual warm smile with an edge of playfulness.

“Noted,” she commented with a chuckle.

“Now, come on.” Yang swung one leg over and retracted the kickstand. Sliding in next to her, Blake saw her partner about to hand her the only helmet she had, a bright yellow one with her insignia.

“You wear it,” Blake told her.

“You’re the guest today, you do the honors.”

“I can’t…”

“Why not?” she asked, looking back.

Instead of answering, the faunus simply twitched her cat ears. Yang looked up at the movement and her questioning gaze shifted to realization.

“Oh.”

“Besides, I doubt you know what speed racing is…” she goaded.

That brought a smirk to the blonde’s face, “Oh, now you’re just asking for it… kitten,” her eyes twinkled with mischief.

Blake blinked at the nickname. She used to call her that back at Beacon to try and get a rise out of her, it worked sometimes. Its been so long since she heard it however, that she forgot she was supposed to be mad about it. Taking her a while to quip back, “… you did _not_ just –

She was cut off by the loud roar from underneath her, and she was nearly certain it was done on purpose. Wrapping her arms around the taller girl’s waist, her suspicions were confirmed when she felt rather than heard the blonde chuckling.

“Hang on tight,” she tried to speak over the engine.

Blake tightened her hold a little more, bringing the front of her body flush to the blonde’s back. Satisfied, Yang released the kickstand and started forward.

It. Was. _Amazing_. Although she wasn’t going extremely fast, she wasn’t exactly going slow either, the wind whistling loudly on either side. Yang was right, this was much better than jumping off a cliff. She felt, free. Free of the huge weight that she carried on her shoulders, free from her past mistakes, free of the war that was to come. Just for a moment, she truly felt _free_.

Having no place in mind, Yang had nowhere to go. She was really just following a dirt road now that looks like it was meant for hiking. The further out they ventured the thicker the trees grew, but Grimm attacks were far and few around these parts, they had their weapons of course, just in case. A few more minutes of silence passed, and they neared a small cliff that turned into a very small beach. This ended up being the small body of water that centered on the landmass of Anima.

Yang decided it seemed like an okay place to take a break and enjoy the scenery. It was beautiful to be honest.

Stopping the bike near the edge of where the dirt road stopped, and the sand started, she turned off the engine. Blake immediately missed the rumble and vibrations of the… bumblebee. But raising her head and looking up she saw why they stopped. She found herself face to face with lake Kawaguchi, a place she had been before a few years back.

“Wow, the view from Patch has nothing on this,” Yang commented.

Blake could see what she saw, a breathtaking view of a vastly sized lake surrounded by cherry blossoms that are now mostly on the lake than on the actual trees. The mountains on the opposite side of the lake were barley visible, but there nonetheless.

Its pretty, but it didn’t beat the view from Menagerie. She didn’t know the exact science behind it, but she guessed that the lack of landmasses nearby the tropical island gave you a full view on the beauty that was the ocean. The colors orange, soft yellow and a certain shade of purple made it breathtaking.

Blake said nothing as they both dismounted and approached the shore. Yang took the liberty to plop down on the sand facing the lake. Not seeing any objections, Blake sat next to her, a safe distance away.

Yang noticed this but said nothing. Instead she reached out to grab the item in her bad and placed it between them. Looking down, Blake saw that she placed Ember Celica down. A bit confused at the sudden disarming, she looked back at her partner questionably. Her response was to show her left arm with her other bracelet.

Blake's eyes widened slightly, looking back down and confirming that that was indeed the right-handed weapon she had been carrying for quite some time.

“Mind explaining why I found that on the counter? I mean, I thought it was as good as gone. Not that it made much difference anyway.”

Ah, that’s right. She left it out. Blake tried to make some sense of what Yang might be feeling about her ‘borrowing’ her weapon. But she saw nothing but curiosity.

“When I went back for my weapon, I saw yours. I couldn’t just… leave it there.”

Yang realized that she didn’t truly know what went down after she… went down. She was knocked down hard by Adam and then what? How did they both get out of there? She never truly asked around how she got to safety, didn’t want to know anything about anything really, after she found out the people she lost along with the school.

“How… how _did_ we get out of there Blake?” She asked tentatively. This topic wasn’t approached before, and they both had scars, physical and psychological, from that time.

Blake hesitated, she's never talked about this before. Hell she tried never to even think about that moment in her life before. It was a cruel reminder of the day she almost lost a loved one. But… she figured at lest Yang deserved to know what happened.

“… after you were down, Adam tried to finish you off…” she trailed off, her thought returning to that day. “I honestly am surprised at what happened next, I… created a clone, but not just of me. Of you…”

Yang eyed her out of the corner of her eye, her body still facing the view. “You weren’t able to do that before?”

“No, just of myself. And even then, it was only for a short amount of time, which is why I mainly use my semblance to take the hits. But… that time I was able to maintain a solid copy of you and me. He’s never seen me use my semblance that way, so he never saw me carry you out until the last second, until after he…” Blake closed her eyes. “Until after he sliced his sword clean through my clone’s head.”

Yang’s fists on the sand balled up into fists. Her expression a mix between anger and fear. _That could have been her,_ she thought.

“… you carried us both out then, badly wounded,” she assessed.

“It was nothing compared to you. You were losing blood too fast, I –

Blake took a deep breath to calm down her nerves. “I was afraid you wouldn’t make it.” She then chuckled humorlessly. “Turns out I was the one who was in danger of blood loss, your semblance somehow cauterized your wound after a while.”

Yang’s head snapped to her right, staring at her partner incredulously. “But Sun said you left the ship as soon as it landed… wha – you didn’t –

Yang was at a loss of words. She had thought her partner’s wound wasn’t deep enough to need medical attention, but for her to be on the edge of bloodloss?

“You are trying to tell me that, you had a life threatening injury while you carried us both out of there and you run off on your own without proper medical attention. On top of that you decide to go back to the school an retrieve our weapons while injured… a place crawling with Grimm?” Yang spoke slowly, unbelieving.

“I know how to take care of stab wounds… “ she tried to justify herself.

Yang was facing her fully now, a look of restraint marred her face. “You are one of the smartest people I know, hell you were in the top 5 rank at school. But that is probably the most _idiotic_ things you’ve ever done. Did you even bother to **think**?! Ask for help? If you didn’t wanna see me, fine, you could’ve asked Sun for help! But heading into a place swarming with Grimm on an injury that should’ve landed you in the medical center is practically suicide! Even _I_ am not that reckless! _Me_!”

Blake said nothing.

“I know.”

Yang scoffed. “That’s all your gonna say? ‘I know,’ that’s your excuse?”

“I don’t have one, I was just desperate. I couldn’t stay unarmed with the White Fang after me, so I risked it.”

Yang stop and pondered for a moment, looked up at the sky for a brief moment before saying, “Okay, yesterday your had your share, you're side of the story, your explanation. Now its my turn to talk. And I am going to tell you that you are one of the most frustrating people I have ever met.”

“I get that you're not on the sociable side of things and you don’t like asking for help. But its common sense, to NOT go in there alone in that condition Blake. What you did was reckless, period.”

“That being said, knowing that you were doing all this while I was at home feeling sorry for myself makes me feel even worse.

“Yang, I –

“Don’t talk,” she scolded.

“When I woke up, the last thing I remembered was you getting stabbed, I needed to know you were okay. That you were alive. Then Sun tells me that you just left. Do you know what that did to me? I might have been slightly traumatized when I had an arm missing, but you leaving like that destroyed me Blake.”

“I felt useless. I couldn’t save my friend, couldn’t save myself, and I was alone. Weiss was shipped home, you ran away, Ruby took off on an impossible mission. I might have been with my dad, but I was alone, a lifeless shell that breathed.”

“I open myself to you about my past, about my mother, and knowing that, you chose to leave. That destroyed my trust in you Blake. It still is. I don’t know if you’re just going to leave again without saying goodbye or –

“I won’t.”

“I can’t trust that,” she smiled sadly. “I can hear you promise that, but the fear still remains. Just like this morning, if I hadn’t seen your clothes I’d still be having a panic attack.”

Blake paused, she had a panic attack?

Yang chuckled humorlessly, “that makes me sound so much like an overly attached girlfriend, sorry.”

“Don’t be. I caused this, and I’m so, so sorry.”

She could apologize all she wanted, but that changes nothing. The damage was done. But Yang being Yang, she deflected her troubles. “Seeing you in yellow is quite a sight by the way,” she tried to maneuver away from her panic attack topic. Said girl blinked and looked down, apparently having forgotten what she was wearing. Her look of surprise and embarrassment obvious.

“Well now I’m just offended, that’s my favorite hoddie,” she observed her partner getting a slight flush despite the lack of light.

Blake shrunk into herself the slightest bit and murmured, “yellow looks better on you.” Now it was Yang’s turn to be taken aback by the compliment, her heart beating just a tad bit faster.

Intending to ignore her reaction towards a compliment, she resumed their conversation. “Heh, thanks. But back to the matter at hand, I just… I wish you’d trust me more, be more open with the team, with _me_. And I’m not talking trust just in the battlefield.”

Blake blinked at her for a few moments and let herself me slightly miffed. “You think I don’t trust you? That I’m not open with you?” she finally answered with a slight raise of her voice. “Yang, you are probably the person I’ve been most open with since… _ever_. I was never close to anyone more than I have been close to _you_.”

The blonde started at her, still disbelieving.

Blake then lowered her voice a bit, speaking in a melancholy tone, “I get that I’m not the most open person, but the fact that I accepted you as my partner despite what happened with Adam? It wasn’t easy, Adam was the closest thing I had to a friend, if you can even consider that friendship. I trusted him with my life, and he didn’t even hesitate in trying to decapitate me,” she said dryly. “That’s something I cant just forget, yet I let _you_ in, Yang. Despite all the shit things I’ve gone through.”

“I don’t like opening up to many topics about my past, yet you know more than anyone in my life. That small bit of my life might mean nothing to you, Yang, but there is no one I would consider talking to about it who isn’t you.” Blake paused for a breath, releasing her clenched fists.

“I told you the other day that my decision to leave was probably the best, but leaving like that might not have been. I trust you enough to talk somewhat about my past and I should have done just that. I should have talked to you, given you the circumstances, then left. And it crossed my mind, it did. But I knew you wouldn’t let me go,” she turned to her and gave her a sad smile. “You’d never let any of your friends go knowing they’d be in danger. So, I made the selfish decision to not give you a choice. I left to hurt you, to have you hate me for doing so and not go after me. I know I’ve said it a couple of times, but I truly am sorry Yang.”

Throughout the entire speech, Yang stared intently at her partner, assessing every blink, every breath, every lip movement, everything.   

“You’re right, you shouldn’t have done that. And you’re right, I wouldn’t have let you go. Because that’s what friends do, we help each other and support each other through thick and thin. But, you know that now. I’ll have to thank Sun for that.” She now looked back out to the view, observing that the sky seemed to get brighter.

Yang was silent after that, again. She ignored Blake’s apologies, not wanting to hear them. She did however, needed to let something be known. “I apologize for belittling your trust in me.”

Blake, frowned, confused.

“Since I met you, you seemed to have this… aura around you. Like you’ve seen the real world through your own eyes, someone whose been wronged and carries the scars. Some might mistake it for a more mysterious personality, which I admit I almost did. I keep accusing you of not opening up to me, when you have. Little by little. You stopped being so guarded around us, you let yourself show more emotion, and although you didn’t share _much_ about your past, you still do, little as it may be. You even mentioned Adam before and I didn’t give it a second thought. I’m sorry for looking over that…”

“It was you.”

It was Yang’s turn to frown, “huh?”

“You’re the reason I ever cared to open up. I don’t know how you do it. You just…” _make me feel safe,_ she wanted to say. “You have a way with words, and you don’t even know it. It catches me by surprise sometimes…”

Yang pondered this for a moment, “so… would you say you made the right choice in choosing me as you partner,” she asked nonchalantly, trying to catch her off guard.

“Ye – 

Blake stopped herself too late. The damage was done.

Yang immediately grinned and laughed, “I knew it!” The faunus rarely blushed, but she was just glad it was dark at the moment. “I didn’t – I wasn’t -” She stuttered, Blake _never_ stuttered.

“I _knew_ someone was following me, thought it was the Ursa at first but your timing was just too perfect.” Yang chuckled a bit more sensing her partner’s flustered state. “I finally got you to admit it.”

Blake sighed in defeat, “I’m not going to live this down, am I?”

“Nope!” was her only response.

She sighed some more before uttering, “Its getting later than it already is, we should head back.”

“You’re right,” Yang stood up, she was about to turn around when she saw Blake trying to hand her something. Her other half of Ember Celica. After some thought she said, “hold on to it for me.”

Blake started back into her lilac eyes, cocking her head to the side.

“My new arm doesn’t allow for wearing it, maybe now that I have it I can have it built in. But meanwhile, you can keep it safe for me. You have been until now.”

“Alright,” she responded softly, following her partners retreating form.

As they climbed on to the bike, its loud engine filling up the silent air. And throughout the entire ride back, Yang let herself smile. She meant what she said back there, that Blake used to open up the tiniest bit every once in a while, but she felt that today, she let her in an entire step.

* * *

 

It was dark, the only illumination came from the flickering of burning wood surrounding her. Blake was on her hands and knees on the floor, her weapon yards away to her left. Drops slowly started to appear before her, landing on the ground. At first, she thought is was her blood, feeling intense pain on the side of her face with her hair slick with grime stuck to her forehead, but she soon realized it was her tears, she was crying.

Yang lay still, a few feet in front of her, clutching her stomach with both hands to stop the flow of blood that poured out of her in waves. But she was awake, pain radiating through her lilac eyes, eyes that were looking at something beyond the faunus.

“I told you, Blake, I _always_ keep my promises.” Adam spoke from somewhere behind her.

 _That’s a lie,_ she thought. _You promised you’d never let anything hurt me._

She heard him move closer, the sound of his footsteps sounding loud in the otherwise silent dinning hall. She didn’t have time to react before feeling a fierce yank of her hair backwards. Forcing her back on her knees with her head tilted back, she grunted, trying hard not to give him the satisfaction that he was hurting her. She raised her arms to grab the hand that had an iron grip on her hair, but all she could do was force his hand closer to her head in order to lessen the pain of her hair being pulled from its roots.

“You’re crying,” he stated, glancing at the tear tracks still visible on her cheeks. He lowered himself down onto one knee and whispered in her right human ear, “what did I tell you about showing emotion?” he asked. Sounding like he used to back when he mentored her through her training in the White Fang.

Almost automatically, she answered, “it’s a sign of weakness.” That was probably one of the first things he ever taught her, the one thing that maybe was still even drilled deep into her mind.

“That’s right, you mustn’t show weakness. Isn’t that right?” He asked, trying to coerce a response and simultaneously tightening his grip.

“… its… a sign of weakness… can’t… show… weakness.” She responded, her voice tight with pain.

 _That’s right_. She forgot. How could she forget? Emotions just got in the way. Makes everything difficult.

“Do you remember? That thrill? The thrill of hurting those who hurt you?” he continued.

 _Yes._ She thought, _I remember. I remember their screams, their pleas, but I never stopped. I never stopped hurting them. Even when they gave me the information I wanted._

“But then what happened? You came here,” he gestured to Beacon’s dining hall, or what was left of it. “You came here and gave your back to us!” He started to raise his voice.

Blake flinched, her second set of ears pressing against her head to the onslaught of Adam’s rage.

“But I forgive you,” he continued, uncharacteristically calm. “I forgive you, Bella. It won’t be simple, but you can redeem yourself, all you have to do is show me the _real_ you. Show me who you used to be and use _her_ as an example.”

Blake closed her eyes, not wanting to see Yang’s expression to this.

Adam got even closer to her, his other hand gripping her chin to turn her to face him. Pressing his lips to her cheek almost sensually, he murmured, “She is an example of why we fight, a human who doesn’t understand our pain. Thinking Grimm are the only true evil, when they should be looking themselves in the mirror.”

The more Adam seemed to speak, she more… calm she started to feel. Her fear started to wash away. Her tears started to stop _. Yes, finally_. She feels calm, at peace. _I forgot what this felt like,_ she thought. Succumbing to the numbness she started to feel wrap all over her body. What had he said? To make an example of that girl?

“It’s not…” the girl croaked. Blake could barley see her form in her current predicament, however, Blake could bet Adam narrow his eyes to slits beneath that mask. “Emotions?… they make you stronger. When you fight for your friends, your team, the people you love. Nothing more makes you stronger to fight for them.” As she spoke, she gradually started to stand. Barley keeping herself on two feet, but now making contact with Blake’s eyes. “And I wont stop… fighting for _you,_ Blake.”

Staring at the girl in front of her, filled with so much determination, almost made her feel sorry for what she was about to do. Almost.

Sensing her change in demeanor, Adam let her go. But not before handing her his sword, and as she gripped the handle above his, he hesitated in letting Wilt go. Keeping both their hands on the hilt, Adam leaned down once again and whispered in her ear.

“Last chance Bella, you fail to prove yourself to me, you both die. But not before making you regret ever leaving me.” He stood up and stepped back, waiting. Blush in his other hand.

Blake didn’t move at first from her place on her knees, still staring at the blonde woman before her who kept looking at her with such familiarity. Who was she?

“… Blake…” the brawler questioned, with furrowed eyebrows. Her eyes, those beautiful amber eyes that have always been filled with a glimmer and mystery, are gone. They now looked… dull, lifeless. With no emotion.

Straightening up ever so slowly, Blake refused to lose eye contact with her, lest she take her by surprise. _Breathe in, out. Calm, stay calm. Center yourself, let go and don’t feel. Conceal_ , she muttered to herself repeatedly.

Blake took one step forward, Yang took one step back, wincing when the sudden movement caused her wound to radiate pain all over her body.

“Blake, listen to me. You’re letting him get in your head!” she tried to reason.

 _Blake? Who’s that_ , the faunus wondered, as she took another step forward.

Eventually, their little cautious dance ended up with Yang backed into the wall at the far end of the dining hall, glad to have some support to keep her upright. But now she was cornered.

“Blake, its me. C’mon, lets go home, Ruby and Weiss are still waiting for us,” she kept on talking with a smile that seemed to waver the closer she got. She started to look worried, but not for herself.

Stopping before her, Blake cocked her head to the side, that adorable action so familiar, so Blake. Then, upon seeing that she made no move to raise her right hand with the red gleaming blade, she tried again. “Blake?”

Blinking, she said nothing as she raised her left hand to touch the tips of her fingers to the stranger’s cheek. _Why does she look so familiar? Who are you?_ Not realizing that she spoke out loud, the blonde answered.

“I’m your partner,” she said simply.

Blake started to feel different, her heart was pounding fast against her ribcage, she was short of breath, and her hand against the stranger’s cheek started trembling. “What… what’s happening to me… ”

Those lilac eyes softened, and she reached out to place her hand over the trembling girl’s heart. “You’re scared,” upon seeing her friend start to breathe erratically, “it’s okay… its going to be okay.”

 _My head hurts, what was I doing again?_ Blake looked up, familiarity sparked in her amber eyes.

“ _Yang_?” She whispered.

Said girl smiled in relief, “hey there, kitten…”

“I knew you couldn’t do it,” a voice spoke from behind. The last thing she registered was feeling Adam’s sword in her right hand moving. It moved backward, then straightened, and them moved swiftly forward.

A pained gasp escaped the blonde’s lips. Eyes widening. Adam had taken matter to his own hands and wrapped his larger hand atop Blake’s on the weapon. Finishing the job.

“No…” _what just….No, no, no, no, NO!_

A choked gasp was the only thing Blake could muster. Her entire body stiffened and froze.

“Blake?”

Yang. That’s Yang’s voice. But she couldn’t respond, couldn’t utter a single word. _Where am I? I can’t see anything!_

“Calm down! Blake? Can you hear me?”

 _Yes,_ she tried to say. But nothing came out. She tried moving her body, but it seemed as though she was paralyzed. The best she could do was clutch the sheets on her sides tightly, painfully.

 _Wait, sheets? I’m in a bed. That’s right. In a room, in Mystral._ _Away from **him**._ She thought.

“Can you open your eyes?”

 _My eyes? Ah, they’re closed, so that’s why I couldn’t see._ She tried, but couldn’t, she was afraid of the bloody images that were there not a few seconds ago. Yang’s eyes losing their spark, closing lifelessly.

_No, no. I can’t…_

She felt a warm hand cup her right cheek, instinctively Blake stiffened even more, her expression twisting to one of fear. Adams hot breath in her ear still fresh in her mind. Her breath hiccupped as she seemed to sink onto the mattress.

“Hey, it’s okay _, it’s okay_ ” Yang whispered. She pressed her forehead against the struggling faunus, “breathe, Blake. I need you to breathe with me okay?”

But she couldn’t, she couldn’t get those images out of her head. And the more she remembered the dream, the worse her breathing got. Is this what it felt like to hyperventilate? It’s like she couldn’t breathe in long enough, just short uneven breaths.

“Open your eyes Blake, I’m right here.”

It took a couple of failed attempts, but eventually, the faunus was able to blink rapidly at the sudden light. A big contrast to the dark environment the dream took place in. Worried lilac eyes stared back at her, it was oddly familiar, just like in the dream.

Yang always acted like the mother hen in the group, making sure everyone in the team was okay. And although Ruby took most of that attention, whenever those bad nights made an appearance for Blake, it showed throughout the day. Usually in the forms of wanting to be alone a lot more often than usual, talking a lot less, and getting irritated quite easily.

Blake distinctly remembered having one of those nightmares, her mind drifting to Adam and the White Fang throughout the day. Somehow, her partner _knew_. She never let her out of her sights those days, almost as if she sensed she had a nightmare and didn’t want her to be alone. She wasn’t obvious about it, knowing how distant her partner tends to be, but she couldn’t hide her worried glances every now and then.

 _I’m making her worry again,_ Blake thought, glancing into her eyes. They were so light, so beautiful. She suddenly realized her obsession with her partners eyes. They were a soft lilac purple, the same shade as the sunrise in menagerie, they reminded her of _home_.

It took her a moment to realize Yang had been talking to her, only catching last words.

“ – Kay?”

Seeing her confused expression, she repeated herself a tad bit slower, never losing eye contact. “Are you okay?”

That brief moment of staring into her eyes, seemed to have calmed her down, but as soon as that moment broke, she started to panic again.

“Nonono, hey, keep looking at me.”

Blake had closed her eyes, her hands started to tremble. Releasing her death grip on the sheets, she brought them to her chest and clutched them together, digging her nails into her palms painfully.

Seeing this, Yang forcefully unclasped her death grip and intertwined her left fingers with hers, placing it next to Blake’s head. She then pinned her left hand against her body with what was left of her right arm, which was surprisingly enough to keep her immobile.

“Look at me.”

“ _I’m sorry_ ,” she whispered brokenly, her thoughts still on the dream.

The blonde frowned at the response but ignored it. “Look at me.”

She did, hesitantly.

“Breathe with me.”

She did.

Slowly, slowly her breathing returned to normal, tension left her body and slowly she was able to move again. It took a good 10 minutes, but all the fright and horrors of the dream started to be left behind. Deep, deep back into her mind. Along with many other poisonous thoughts.

Seeing improvement, Yang let go of her hands and slowly raised her head from hers. She was sitting on her side of the bed, next to Blake’s waist.

She knew Blake had reoccurring nightmares back at Beacon, and one could miss the signs if you weren’t looking for them. But ever since getting up for a cup of water, she couldn’t erase the expression her partner wore. A mix of fear and sadness. She tried to wake her up but didn’t want to startle her, so she simply placed a comforting hand to her forehead, humming. Something she usually did for Ruby. Briefly, the faunus had opened her eyes and looked up at her, whispering her name questionably before falling back to sleep.

She figured that Blake didn’t remember any of it, seeing her act as though nothing out of the ordinary happened the rest of the day, but looking further behind that stoic mask she puts up, she saw a lonely troubled look, a look that forced her to keep an eye out. Not wanting her to be left alone for even a second. Although she never again was able to be awake during her nightmares, she could distinguish whether or not he had one that day. And those days she chose to spend with her, that heartbreaking expression of her partner still fresh in her mind.

She never, however, expected this level of nightmare. Hell, this wasn’t a nightmare, it had to be a night terror, she was quite familiar with those.

“Are you okay?” Yang repeated once again.

This time, Blake was calmed, she rose slowly but was stopped by her partner’s hand on her chest. “Stay down, that was quite a scare you had. I’ll go get you some water.”

Blake felt her partner rise and head out their room, she didn’t glance at her, not wanting to see what her expression was after experiencing her… problem.

She hadn’t had one of these in a long while, her only guess was that seeing her team again brought back those fears. This one however was, inexplicably worse. The paralyzing was new, she couldn’t move at all. Generally, she froze for a few seconds when waking up, but she was truly paralyzed this time, for what felt like hours. It felt horrible. She honestly didn’t know how she would’ve dealt without Yang.

Yang.

Blake rose from the bed to a sitting position. _Great, now I got her mixed up with my personal demons._

She raised her head at the door, seeing Yang walk in with a glass of water.

Yang, upon seeing her partner ignoring her request to stay down, clicked her tongue. “Tsk, what did I say woman?”

“Sorry.”

“There you go again,” she hummed, “its fine, here, drink this.”

She took the glass and drank, she didn’t realize how dry her mouth was until she finished the entire glass. This whole experience was slightly new to her.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m –

“And I swear if you come with an ‘I’m fine’ line I will flick you so hard….” She warned, not finishing her threat.

Blake faltered for a moment and said nothing.

“I know you used to have nightmares,” she admitted, grabbing Blake’s attention. “But, were they always this intense?”

“… for the most part,” she admitted. “The… paralyzing thing is new.”

Sensing reluctance from her, Yang decided to not push things any further for today. She seemed calm and didn’t want to provoke another breakdown. They had very little sleep as it was, “are you okay, now?” she rephrased the question.

“Yes.”

“Let’s try to get some sleep, as little as it will be.”

Blake simply nodded but didn’t move, even as Yang took her position back on the bed, her back facing her. The remnants of the dream, although not as intense, still lingered. Was that really just a nightmare, or was it her mind trying to tell her something?

For a small fraction of the dream, she had gone back to the… emotionless killer she once was. It horrified her to see herself that way. But deep down, she knows its the truth.

After a few minutes she thought the blonde was asleep until said person shifted underneath the sheets to turn herself over. Lilac eyes most definitely awake. Observing her own partner with slightly widened eyes, most likely with thoughts still on the nightmare. And although things between them weren’t one-hundred percent, she wasn’t just gonna leave her be.

Raising her right elbow, she lifted the covers. “Com’ere.”

Slowly, but surely, Blake slid down until she was face to face with her. She watched as Yang pulled the covers over both of them. Yang shifted one more time, but this time was to raise her head slightly and place her chin atop Blake’s head, in between her cat ears. Blake was about to ask what she was doing until she heard soft humming. Humming she could have sworn sounded very familiar, like she’s hear it before, but she was too tired to even bother to think about it. Her eyes slid closed, little by little, until she was sound asleep. Long sleepless nights finally catching on to her, and she finally cave in to them, because now… now she felt _safe_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so. Hear me out.(Keep in mind that this story was written before volume 5 came out) I get that Yang went through on of the most traumatic experiences of losing a limb, and she has gone through shit, she had a breakdown, but ultimately she got back up. And although she still struggles, she's learned to deal. Blake, hasn't. She hasn't had time to 'deal' with the outcomes of the Fall of Beacon, she's been on the run and almost immediately she is thrown back into another war with the people she ran away from. It's bound to break her somewhat (and Adam isn't even on the equation yet). Ruby is another character that i feel need to have a 'break down,' but we'll get to that.  
> On to another matter.  
> Would you personally prefer long chapters that take a while or shorter chapters that are more constant? I personally prefer this format, but there are a few sections that could have been made shorter and could easily be 2 chapters here. Leave a comment!  
> If you see errors, let me know so I can correct them! As well as repetitions, I feel I repeated a few words like, a thousand times lol.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are awesome. Your awesome. And although this might not be, it's fun to do.


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